Love Deeper than the Ocean | IzuOcha Mermaid AU

Chapter 11 | Walking

Ochaco's Pov.

  "You're both ready?" Ochaco held out the potions to them.

  "I'm ready to take all the consequences and risks that come with this," Izuku told her. "But... Could you go over what we need to do again?"

  Todoroki nodded in agreement at Izuku's first statement. 

  "Okay, so as soon as you transform, put on the clothes," she told him. "Or at least the pants. Then when you're ready we're going to turn around and then try to teach you how to walk in an hour if it's possible."

  "And... What went into this liquid..?" Izuku took the bottle from her and examined it closer.

  "Maybe it's best if you didn't know..." Ochaco handed Todoroki his potion. 

  Ochaco and Momo turned around as Todoroki and Izuku uncapped the solution. After about... Ten minutes...(Yes, really that long...) Shoto told them to turn around. 

  They were both sitting down. It was amazing! Their lower half was completely changed to be legs! His teeth changed to be shaped flatter! The gills that used to be on their necks were replaced with skin! Their hands were no longer webbed! It was amazing!

  "Okay, now all you have to do is put your shirts on," Ochaco went on.

  "How do I even fit my head through this?" Izuku wondered.

  "If people do it every day you can too," she encouraged him.

  After about ten more minutes of trying to help them, finally, they were dressed. 

  "If you were stalking me for so long, how did you not know how to put a shirt on!?" Ochaco wondered. 

  "Just because I was watching you doesn't mean that I know how to," he crossed his arms. 

  "Ready to walk?" Momo interrupted them.

  When he nodded, Izuku nodded too. 

  "I think we should help them up one at a time because they're heavier than us," Momo suggested. First, they took Shoto's hands and got him onto his feet. He nearly fell into the water, but they didn't let him. There was no way they were letting that happen after they literally took twenty minutes to get into clothes. 

  "We're going to lean you against the rock, you're going to try not to fall while we try to get Izuku to stand," Momo instructed as she lead him to the stone. 

  "Your turn," Ochaco turned to look at Izuku.

  "Can't we just stay here? I mean, you didn't have to do anything like this when you were in the ocean-" Izuku was cut off when Ochaco and Momo heaved him to his feet.

  "Woah!" he wobbled around.

  Ochaco pushed him to the rock that Todoroki was leaning on. 

  "Why are you humans so complicated?" Izuku pondered. 

  "Walking is something we learn when we're little and getting dressed is so that we don't walk around naked," Ochaco explained, "They're not that complicated."

  "Try to walk to us," Momo instructed the boys after a minute.

  "You're kidding, right?" Izuku complained as Todoroki tried taking a step towards them. He fell in the process.

  "You're the one that wanted to come to see our world," she reminded him. "This is a way you can blend in with the crowd and see the best parts of life at the same time!"

  "You can bleed after a single scratch?" Shoto muttered under his breath, "Skin is pretty weak..."

Izuku's Pov.

  Why couldn't they stay at the rocks? Leaning on this rock was already complex enough much less walking toward Ochaco! He hated legs... They were so weak! He wouldn't even be able to protect Ochaco from an angry hermit crab much less a shark mistaking her for a seal(for the record, a siren could scare off a shark. That's why he promised Ochaco he could protect her from a shark)! 

  Ochaco was so wonderful though... Kacchan actually apologized to him later! He couldn't thank her enough!

  But besides that, it was really bright and hot... At least the water was cool! No wonder humans liked to go into the ocean so much. Also, it was so weird being completely dry. How could the humans stand it?

  "Let's put it this way," Momo started. "We can't leave this place until you both learn to walk. Everyone will wonder what's wrong with you if you don't. Walking is essential."

  "Also, how is this so much harder than swimming!?" Ochaco exclaimed. "Swimming's so much harder!"

  "Okay, okay," Izuku turned to them slowly. "I'll try to walk to you."

  Izuku tried to stand up without leaning on anything and almost fell in the process. After balancing, he tried taking a step. Unfortunately, his newly acquired feet didn't land on the right angle and he would've fallen on his face if Ochaco didn't catch him. 

  "Why don't we try leading them around instead of just making them take steps towards us?" Momo helped up Shoto.

  "Good idea," the brunette responded. She took his hands and tried taking a step back.

  "This really isn't the best idea..." Izuku told her as she distanced herself even more. He felt his feet become unbalanced. 

  "I'm here to catch you," she told him, "But you really need to learn how to walk."

  He took a step forward and stumbled, but didn't fall. 

  "You're a fast learner," she complimented, "It takes us months to learn how to walk when we're toddlers."

  "And you're trying to squeeze this in an hour?" he took another step forward. He didn't want Ochaco carrying all of his weight, so he adjusted the way he distributed his weight on his feet. That almost made him fall, but he thought he was on the right track when he was able to balance himself better. 

  "That's the plan. Shoto can't stay away for too long or else his guards will come looking for him," Ochaco explained. "So the faster we can make this happen, the more things we can get you guys to do."

  "I guess that makes sense..." Izuku mumbled. The green-haired male was uncomfortable with this whole situation, but this was his way of thanking Ochaco for everything she's done for him. 

  "Unless I join you another time. I could learn to walk now and come back tomorrow," Shoto proposed. 

  "That sounds good. Wait! I have a shift I need to make in half an hour... I won't be able to join you anyway..." Momo realized. 

  "How did you forget? You're usually the one that remembers things for us!" Ochaco commented.

  "Yeah... Well... I got really excited for this, that's all," it was very unusual that Momo forgot about that... 

  "Izuku you're doing amazing!" Ochaco smiled at him. Had he been walking around with her help this entire time? Maybe they distracted him enough from the whole walking thing. 

  "Thanks," he was going to rub the back of his head but decided against it because he was sure he needed her help still. 

  "Your legs were already pretty strong because you had a tail before because swimming takes more stamina than walking," Momo said. "Perhaps it helps that you were already strong before learning to walk."

  After another hour, Ochaco was sure that he was ready to go to a place that wasn't crowded.

  "Ready for your first taste of being human?"