A Merfolk's Tale

Chapter Twenty

Eiji found Katsuki a few steps not far from the hut, huffing his anger out as he skipped rocks on the pond that Yagi owned-- of course, he owned a pond, he was merman after all.

"Hey," Eiji called but whether Katsuki heard him or not, the blonde didn't show, so the redhead walked up until he was next to Katsuki who still continued to skip rocks on the pond.

Eiji looked at him, unsure of what he should say. "Katsuki--"

"Go on," Katsuki said as he gripped the rock he held. "Say it..."

Eiji looked at him in confusion until he saw Katsuki's expression and knew that the merman was expecting hurtful words that Shoto used on Izuku, he was expecting Eiji to feel betrayed for keeping a secret as big as this, he was expecting that Eiji would hate him because of who he really was-- not just a commoner nor a human, but a merman.

But how can Eiji be mad at him?

How can he hate this blonde?

When all he felt for him was love.

Eiji opened his mouth to speak and Katsuki prepared himself for the worst.

"Can... can I see?"

Katsuki's eyes widened as he snapped his head towards Eiji-- no sign of anger or hate present from the redhead. "W-what...?"

"Your form," Eiji said as he looked away in embarrassment. "Can I see it?"

Katsuki blinked, unsure if the redhead was serious or not.

"I-it's fine if you don't want to though..." Eiji was flustered. "O-or you can't since we're in this kind of situation and--"

"Eiji," Katsuki successfully shut him up as he started to strip from his clothes and Eiji forced himself to shut his eyes so as to not invade Katsuki's privacy.

Man, mermaids have no sense of embarrassment whatsoever when it comes to their bodies. Eiji thought as he felt his face start to heat up.

With his eyes still clothes, he heard a splash of water followed by a low whistle and Eiji slowly opened his eyes and gasped.

Katsuki was seated on the ledge of the pond with his bare chest, three slits made themselves known on either side of his neck and Eiji figured it was Katsuki's gills to help him breathe underwater easily like how his nose can help him breathe on land. Eiji's eyes traveled down to Katsuki's lower body and his breath caught up in his chest when he saw the orange to cream-colored tail Katsuki had-- scales shinning against the moonlight.

"You're beautiful..." Eiji whispered under his breath as Katsuki looked away. As a human, Katsuki had always been beautiful in Eiji's eyes, but he never knew the merman could take it to the next level in his mermaid form. "Man... those history books weren't lying when they said you guys were too enchanting to look at that any human would be entranced,"

Katsuki tilted his head before closing his eyes and willing himself to form back into his human form just in time to pull some of his clothes over his lap and cover his lower half. "I couldn't understand a word you're saying, idiot," the blonde mumbled.

Eiji knelt next to him and caressed Katsuki's cheeks, making the blonde look at him. "I said... I love you," he whispered and Katsuki had to blink the tears that formed in his eyes.

Normally he wasn't this soft, but ever since meeting Eiji, he had been getting in touch with his soft side-- the side he had long forgotten when he knew the responsibility he had to care for Izuku whom he considered as his brother.

Eiji leaned in for a kiss but Katsuki put a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him away. "We can't..." the blonde whispered.

"What do you mean, we can't?" Eiji asked as if the answer wasn't obvious enough.