Love Deeper than the Ocean | IzuOcha Mermaid AU

Chapter 2 | Under the Sea

Ochaco's Pov.

  This boy had a fish tail? This boy had a fish tail. This boy had a fish tail! This meant that she was right! That greenish scaly thing she saw in the water was his tail!

  "So you're a... Merman..?" she sat up after a moment. She was so curious! Probably a little too much so. 

  "We prefer the word siren, but I guess yeah," he nodded his head. 

  "Aren't you going to try to drown me then?" she asked. 

  "W-Why would you think that?" he looked kind of horrified at her suggestion.

  "I guess it's just a myth," she rubbed the back of her head, feeling silly. 

  "Not really... More like a "one siren did something and then the rest get lumped together" kind of thing," he explained. "But we have laws not to go near humans or interact with them..."

  He looked back at her with a guilty expression.

  "This was an accident though right?" she tried to make up an explanation. "Like... The tides rushed in and pushed you up here and you cut yourself and then I rushed over to help you and I accidentally saw your tail?"

  He shook his head, "It's no use. I wasn't even supposed to be up here much less-"

  The siren cut himself off, seeming embarrassed.

  "Much less what?" she wondered. Was he up here for a different reason? 

  "I- Um- I mean- Much less collecting shells near the humans?" he stuttered. His visage went red and he was rubbing the back of his head. Why was he so adorable?

  Ochaco felt a smile spread across her face and she let out a giggle. Merfolk- Sirens were more human-like than she thought. 

  "Anyway, what's your name?" she pondered.

  "Izuku Midoriya," he told her. 

  "It's nice to meet you Izuku!" she beamed at him. This was so cool! She actually was meeting merman! Well... a siren. 

  She waited. Maybe it wasn't customary for him to ask her name too? That would be silly though. A name was basically a code so you could identify others. How were you supposed to know who people are without a name?

  Ochaco stared at him confused.

  "Oh! Um... What's your name Ochaco?" he questioned.

  "It's- Wait a minute, how do you know my name?" it took her a second to fully comprehend what he said, but he obviously knew her name from somewhere. Did he have special powers to just know everyone's name?  

  "I..." he seemed that he was trying to make something off the top of his head. "Guessed?"

  "Okay, that time I know you lied," she caught him. "You're a pretty terrible liar."

  "I always have been," he let out another awkward chuckle. She noticed that his teeth were pointed. Almost like a whale or something. Strange, but they were different species, right? So that would make sense. Kind of.

  "I have to get back in the water!" he realized. "I'll dry out if I stay here!" 

  He tried pushing himself in the water, but let out a gasp of pain when he tried.

Izuku's Pov.

  "Is there anything I can do to help?" Ochaco asked. That was nice... She wanted to help him even after the shock he caused her. 

   "I don't know... M-Maybe you could roll me into the water?" he suggested.

  She nodded. He flopped so that he was sideways facing her and then she pushed him into the water. 

  His heart was racing fast. 

  "T-Thanks for the help," he thanked her. He knew that if he stayed longer, he would probably get found out. Even though he stalked- watched her often, it was basically the day's limit. Well, at least in that few hours. 

  He was about to leave, but she stopped him. 

  "Wait," she put her hand out.

  "Hm? What is it?" he pondered.

  "Could you meet me here tomorrow?" her eyes sparkled, begging him to come back. 

  "Y-Yeah," he agreed. He needed to stop stuttering... 

  Then with a wave, he dove underwater to swim back to his house. It was one of the houses closer to the shallows where the humans were. It wasn't too far from the coral reef. 

  "Hi Mom, I'm back," Izuku called.

  "Where were you Izuku!?" she swam back to him, looking really worried.

  "Just out and about," he hugged her back when she wrapped her arms around him. "You don't have to worry for me."

  "Well okay..." she trailed off. "We're eating salmon for dinner."

  "Sounds good," he smiled at her. 

  He didn't like lying to his mother, but Izuku wanted to be up near the surface! What did having legs feel like anyway? They looked really inconvenient. It's not like you could swim through the air. You had to... What was the word that humans used..? Was it walk..? No, probably not. Well whatever it was, it seemed really troublesome and complicated to move around. 

  He left to go to his room. Then, Izuku laid back on his bed made of kelp.

  To be completely fair, it was even more inconvenient to have a tail on land. 

  "Ochaco..." he whispered. Her face filled his thoughts and he smiled. He was actually going to meet her tomorrow! After these three weeks of never being able to get too close, he accidentally met her and now he could talk to her!

  Should he bring something for her? Maybe a pretty shell? Or a nice piece of sea glass? Maybe a beautiful sand dollar? 

  He took savings to count it all. It wasn't too much, but maybe enough to get her something nice?

  "I'm leaving to go to the coral reef!" he told his mom and then left. The coral reef was where all the nice shops were, and it was about five minutes to swim there. 

  Once he got there, he glanced around. The jewelry was all pretty expensive (...At least the ones with gems and jewels)... She liked shells, right? Maybe he could get her a bracelet decorated with shells? 

  After buying one he thought she'd like, he left to go back home. He was hoping she'd like her bracelet.