As Deep As The Ocean || •Mermaid AU• || KiriBaku

20

“Ar-Are you sure?” he asked, looking down at the orange in his hands and back at the blonde, who smiled down on him and nodded. He smiled up happily at the woman, hoping his eyes conveyed the full extent of his gratefulness at the situation, his dimples once again on full display and his slightly sharp teeth seen through the upcurl of his lips. She chuckled lightly, resting her hands against his shoulders again and moving the two of them back down the stall-littered street. 

“So… you’re not from around here, are you?” She asked, red eyes scanning up and down the street as she looked over the merchandise. Kirishima panicked momentarily, his heart racing as he looked towards the blonde strutting alongside him, but the small smile on her face, despite looking in a different direction, calmed him slightly. He was momentarily panicked that she had caught onto the fact that he wasn’t entirely human, but she seemed completely unaware of that fact, more likely questioning if he had been raised in a different area, or country altogether.

“Uh, what makes you say that?” He asked, and the blonde chuckled lightly, the panic melting out of him at that realisation. 

“Well, for starters, you didn’t even know what a coin was, let alone how to use them or the economy in general. Second, I know most of the people living in this town, and I have never seen you around, which I would usually disregard, except for the fact that you look about the same age as my son.” 

“Oh… I suppose so.” She hummed, glancing quickly at him, then back at the path ahead of them. 

“So, where are you from?” She asked, slowing slightly in front of a table ladened with different glassworks, small crystalline sculptures of birds and animals sitting delicately upon the polished wood. Kirishima wasn’t sure how to answer, knowing she wouldn’t believe him if she told him the truth, but he also had no sense of human geography, hence no understanding of how to properly answer the question. He thought about making something up, trying to recall a story Bakugou had told him during one of their long conversations they had back at the grotto, but the woman in front of him was undoubtedly very smart. He couldn’t make somewhere up, because she’d probably be able to tell that it wasn’t real. At the same time, though, if he did manage to remember one of the countries his new friend had mentioned, she would likely ask about his experience there, or start comparing his version of the culture to the one she knew from books or stories, and he would be just as equally caught in that situation, too. 

“I don’t know the name, but it’s just past the ocean.” He managed to answer the question, somewhat truthfully too, and that seemed to appease her plenty, as she made an ‘oh’ sound, smiling softly and looking back at him with a studying expression. 

“You don’t know the name of where you are from?” 

“No, sorry. I never really paid any mind to that…” She stared blankly at him for a few seconds, blinking. 

“Strange, I guess. So you’re a foreigner, then?” 

“I suppose so.” She hummed, running her finger over a small finch sculpture, no larger than the palm of her hand and dotted with specks of gold and silver scattered throughout the entire glass creation. She brought the sculpture into her hands, cupping it gently in her palms as she brought the glass closer to her face, examining it gently. 

“What do you think of this sculpture?” Kirishima blinked at her, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly, before humming and smiling at the woman. 

“It’s very pretty.” He wasn’t sure what else to add. It was pretty, but that’s about it. He was honestly quite confused with the question entirely. He was not the one buying it, afterall, so why was his opinion relevant to this woman?