Salty love

chapter 13

*Surprise in Authors Note*

It took some getting used to, the tail, the gills.... Breathing underwater. But eventually, Izuki got quite comfortable with his new form. Him and Katsuki practiced swimming with his new tail, how to hunt and taste the waters for scents. Izuku even caught his first fish! A large tuna that he happily snacked on.

After getting the hang of everything, him and Katsuki got ready to move in with the rest of the pod. Katsuki has been away for a long time, making sure his mate was well taken care of. Izuku felt bad he had kept the alpha from his pod and clan for so long, but he was excited, if not nervous to see it for the first time.

Actually, he was very nervous.

While gathering and packing the little things they had in the cave, Izuku was mumbling and talking the whole time, asking 'what ifs' and whole series of events that could go wrong. Eventually, Katsuki sat him down, hugging him from behind and gently scenting him to calm him.

"Dont worry, they are gonna love you. All of them. Nothing bad is gonna happen nerd. Stop freaking out about it. " Then the alpha kissed him gently and returned to gathering their nesting supplies.

Yeah... Ok.. He can do this.

______________________

He couldn't do this.

Izuku was so nervous. He could smell the scents of unknown mer swimming through the waters. The closer they got, the more powerful the scent of the pod became. This was no doubt their territory.

Katsuki had a satchel weaved out of seaweed and sea grass full of any nesting supplies they had in the cave swing over his shoulder. His other free hand was intertwined with Izukus, who was squeezing it harshly.

"Come on. I have some idiots I want you to meet. We'll meet my close pask first, and then later the rest of the pod will be introduced. " Katsuki led him deeper into the the territory, large walls of coral and rocks sourounded the perimeter.

Izuku was in awe, it was like an underwater palace. He vaguely remembered stories of mermaids his mother had told him as a kid. In the picture books, they had castles and everything else a land kingdom would have, but looking around, izuku could see those books were very far from the truth. Their culture, their life style was vastly different from most land dwellers.

Where houses and hits would be, caves and coral provided shelter to the mer people. There was no castle, however there was clearings, used for sparing, gatherings and ceremonies. It was different by a lot, but it was also very similar.

Izuku was mesmerized by everything, so engrossed with the sights around him, he didn't notice large bodies swimming towards them.

"BLASTY! "
"BAKUBRO! "
"YOU'RE BACK! "

Izuku was startled, looking at the large mers swimming around them. One was a mass of a being, a large red and black shark like tail propelled him through the water. He had long spiky red hair with black roots. He was no doubt an alpha from his size and scent alone.
The next was a female mer, she had blackened eyes with golden rings. Her tail and hair were a bright pinks, fluffy and frilled much like his own with pink stripes. She had golden horns atop her head, something izuku had never screen or heard of mers having. She was also a alpha, she was big but smaller then katsuki by a lot.

The other three were betas. One was very long and lean, a slim tail that still held some bulk was filled with black and grey patterns. He had shoulder length black hair and a laid back smile. The one to his right had bright yellow hair with a black lighting bolt on the side. His body was slim, but his tail was large and eel like. His fins flated with excitement. The last one looked the most chill out of all of them. Her tail was smaller then the rest, but beautiful none the lass. She had dark purple hair in an uneven Bob, her tail and fins were different shades of purple, complementing her well.