Fighting Chance - bakudeku

breathe (2)

chapter two
midoriya focus
TW: knocked unconscious, broken bones
wc: 1.2k

ᵐᵃʸᵇᵉ ᵃⁿᵍᵉˡˢ ᵈᵒ ⁿᵒᵗ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ʷⁱⁿᵍˢ
ᵇᵘᵗ ᵍʳᵉᵉⁿ ᵗᵃⁱˡˢ ᵃⁿᵈ
ᵒᵇⁿᵒˣⁱᵒᵘˢ ⁱⁿⁿᵒᶜᵉⁿᶜᵉ

     Midoriya let himself drift along in the wake of the giant ship above him. He ran his fingers along its steel belly. It was smooth until he hit a patch of barnacles, and greeted them softly.

     Cruise ships were his favorite. They were big and slow enough to follow for hours with no risk of being seen. He could even go to the surface and listen to the cacophony of human voices and music above. They never saw him, he stayed close to the side of the ship, and unfortunately, that meant he never got to see them, either.

     He glided to the side of the ship, hugging the metal, and listened. He did hear music, but his ears picked up something else, too. There was commotion above, and it sounded frantic. It wasn't common to see humans fighting on vacation, but it did happen. Izuku strained his ears, nosy. Suddenly, he saw a shape being hauled over the edge of the ship. A moment later, a new voice joined the yelling. Then three voices screamed, and the mass fell. Izuku watched as a boy about his age fell to the sea, reaching an arm above him, as if he thought if he could just stretch far enough he could catch the hand reaching out for him. The adult female screamed again, panic in her voice as she watched her pup fall.

Izuku had heard stories of humans falling over the sides of cruise ships, but he had never seen it happen. His mouth was agape, and he felt his eyes start to burn. Empathy transversed species. He shed a tear for the mother as she watched her pup fall to his death.

The human hit the water with an earsplitting slap, legs first. Izuku heard them break. He also heard the wheezing grunt as the boy's breath left his body, forced out by the impact. He went under, and Izuku barely thought before he followed, pulling the human pup back to the surface.

He was unconscious. Izuku slumped the boy over his shoulder so that his head was above water. All merfolk knew that humans couldn't breathe the oxygen underwater. It was generally understood that drowning them was every mer's last resort to escape capture. But this one was just a pup – a broken-legged, unconscious pup, at that. Humans didn't get much less threatening, really.

So, he cradled the boy, floating along in the ship's wake, letting his tail follow the movements of the current (he liked to call this 'the loose kelp float'). He looked up to see the mother still leaning over the ship's railing, screaming and sobbing, reaching out her hands. But no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to reach her pup as the ship left him behind.

A few minutes later, the ship was ahead of them, and the female human had run back inside. The human coughed weakly. He shifted, wheezing like every breathe set his lungs aflame. And he just laid there, limply, breathing heavy. Izuku kept holding onto him, kept his head above water, knowing that what pathetic swimming humans could do could only be done with their legs – which this boy had broken on impact.

-

Bakugou Katsuki Focus

Katsuki didn't know how long he floated there before his eyes finally focused. The adrenalin was wearing off, which meant the pain was setting in. And, oh, god, his legs felt like they had been stabbed all the way through with a razor-sharp knife.

It finally occurred to him that he was leaning on something. Or, rather, someone. His chin rested on a boney shoulder, and the things gently supporting his ribcage were hands, he thought. He took in a breath and tried to speak, but all that came out was a groan of pain.

"Hello," said a soft voice. "Are you awake now?"

Katsuki tried to respond, but again only moaned in pain. He couldn't move most of his body. He turned his head, ever so slightly, to catch a glimpse of green hair slicked down with water, plastered to the back of a neck that was dotted lightly with freckles. He tried to breathe again.

"Am I dead?" He wheezed out.

There was a pause.

"Well, I hope not."

Bakugou was pretty content with that answer. If this were some heavenly guide trying to bring his soul to the afterlife, they would have responded with a much more cryptic message, he was sure.

After a few more minutes, Katsuki willed himself to move. He lifted his head. His life-preserver substitute must have sensed the shift, because he lifted Katsuki away slightly, hands still under his ribcage. Any movement in his legs was agony, but the stubborn boy refused to whine anymore.

Getting a proper look at his savior, he saw a boy with green hair, green eyes, and freckles dotted across pale skin. If it weren't for the fact that the person was shirtless, he would have thought this was a girl, because they were honestly very pretty, their voice soft and soothing.

"Wait a second, what the fuck?" He asked suddenly. He looked around, open sea in every direction, and his cruise ship shrinking into the horizon behind him. "Oh my god, what the fuck?"

"Oh, you might be a little confused. Do you remember what happened?" The boy with green hair asked softly.

"Of course I do. That's how I know I should be fucking dead," The blond replied gruffly.

"Oh. Well, I saw you fall, so I... well, I didn't really catch you, but I kept you above water."

"Why the hell are you in the middle of the goddamn ocean?"

"Well, I live here. But I saw the ship coming and, well, I got curious. I just think you guys are neat."

"You what?" It was then that he noticed the soft, thin slits in each side of the boy's neck. Gills. "Wait. Woah. You're... you're a mermaid. Wait. Holy shit."

"Well," the boy chuckled awkwardly, "I'm a merboy, yeah."

"Wait, so you saw me fall and decided to save me? Why?"

"Well, I don't really enjoy watching people die, I guess, and your mother seemed really upset when you fell, and, well, maybe I can get you back to her. Of course, that would take a long time, considering the ship has a significant head start on us and even if I could catch up there's no real way to get you back on, especially with broken bones, and I can't exactly get close enough to land to deliver you safely because I really don't want to be captured, and-"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. The mermaid – merboy, rather – was mumbling now, rushed speech bordering on inaudible.

"I thought you fish people liked to kill us for fun," he cut in.

The boy looked shocked. "What? We would never kill for fun! Drowning humans is a last resort to avoid capture."

"Very few people that are killed by mermaids were trying to capture them," Katsuki countered.

"Then why would they get so close?" The merboy asked.

Bakugou shrugged. "Why do you swim up to ships?"

"I told you, because I think humans are neat!"

"Well," Katsuki said, "I guess the feeling is mutual."