Why Pirates Hate Water

23. Dry Your Tears

The deck of the ship was swarmed with life. The crew was overly ecstatic after a short pit stop to ask for a favor. Thanks to the work of an old companion, the crystal had been successfully split, and each member of the crew got their own piece that was made into necklaces for safe keeping. Today was the third day of testing the powers of the crystal.

Katsuki had been forbidden from testing his in case it was dangerous and his shoulder was still injured. Katsuki was also tasked with keeping Shoto's crystal so he couldn't escape.

Izuku had his hands full as the first mate and temporary substitute captain of the Dynamite. He had to rangle the crew, be medic for Katsuki, and assure that Shoto wouldn't try anything. Katsuki's breakdown had thoroughly shook him, seeing as he got no explanation whatsoever. His emotions were on high, and his whole body was sore from his strenuous power. Izuku looked like he came back from the dead, and everyone had noticed. To Izuku, it felt like becoming a siren all over again.

Izuku had spent the entire week rowing in the small boat with Toshinori when they finally reached the wall of fog. Izuku tensed in his seat as they began to row straight into it. He was quickly aware of every sound, his breath, the water, rowing, and singing. He froze. Singing? He looked around, barely being able to see Toshinori through the fog. A splash from the water followed, coming from somewhere around the boat. He couldn't tell if Toshinori hadn't noticed or was pretending he didn't. Izuku rowed at a slow pace, his head turning at every little noise. He felt a splash of the cold water followed by Toshinori yelling. Izuku opened his eyes in the water, finding piercing blue eyes and black hair. The man looked surprised when he saw Izuku. Izuku found himself looking around at the clear water below the surface before his lungs started to ache, and he was dragged deeper. That's when Izuku realized that the man was a merman. A siren to be exact, and Izuku was the prey. Or so he thought. Izuku noticed his body jerking violently but could feel nothing but the freezing waters. He saw the siren move closer until he felt warm lips on his own. That was the last thing he saw before fading into unconsciousness.

After Izuku had become a siren, his whole body had ached for days, and his scales peeled and regrew several times, which brought him excruciating pain. Izuku couldn't be bothered to care about the crews antics at this point.

He went down the stairs to Shoto's cell, wincing at every step. Katsuki offered him a half smile before continuing his game of war against Shoto. Izuku, too tired to care, came up behind Katsuki and sat down, pulling Katsuki flush to his chest and resting his forehead on the blonds back.

"Mm, you alright?" Katsuki asked, laying down his next card.

"Tired." Izuku mumbled, half asleep already.

"Head up to bed, I'll watch the idiots for the day." Katsuki suggested.

"No!" Izuku shot up. "You are not to do anything captain-y until that shoulder is fully healed." Izuku scolded sternly. Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"You should go rest, Izuku." Shoto chimed in, frowning at his decreasing amount of cards.

"Nope, I'm fine. I'm great, actually." Izuku got to his feet, hissing at how sore they were before getting ready to march out. Katsuki dropped his cards and reached up to grab Izuku's hand and pull him back. This only resulted in Izuku landing quite awkwardly above Katsuki. He held himself up on his forearms above Katsuki's head, his legs on either side of the blonds waist. Izuku stared down into Katsuki's eyes for a moment before Katsuki spoke.

"Get up." Katsuki wheezed out, his injured shoulder pressing against the floor harshly.

Izuku misread his pain as anger and quickly got up, running out with tears in his eyes. Had the kiss really meant nothing? Did Katsuki not actually feel that way towards him? Izuku's mind was racing as he went straight into the captains quarters and plopped down onto the bed.

He wiped his tears quickly, albeit they didn't stop flowing. A knock sounded from the wall by the door. Katsuki stood there, leaning against the wall for a moment before Izuku looked up at him.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." Izuku whispered.

"Hey. None of that." Katsuki said, sitting down on the bed next to Izuku. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have been so rude about it. My shoulder was hurting at that angle, and I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Your shoulder?" Izuku questioned slowly before he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Katsuki pouted.

"I just, I thought you were..." Izuku trailed off, "like, rejecting me. Sorry, that's stupid, and you still could b-" Izuku was cut off by Katsukis' lips enveloping his own. The kiss was soft and sweet, showing once again how in love he was.

Izuku broke this kiss, "So... are we.." He couldn't finish his sentence as Katsuki continued to peck his lips.

"You're such a nerd." Katsuki pecked his lips again. "My nerd."

"Yeah." Izuku smiled.

"But I think there's something else we need to talk about." Katsuki spoke, "or rather someone."