"So Kiri~!" Mina smiled from across the table. He glanced up, grabbing a few fries and eating them. He wondered if Bakugo would like to try them, what would he think?
"Hm?" he hummed, looking over, noticing both Sero and Denki were looking at him.
"What?" he asked, did they say something, was he thinking about the merman so much he didn't notice they were talking to him.
Mina's eyes went wide, "KIRI!!" she shouted at the few people around their table, but loud enough the other diners gave her a dirty look, before going back to their food. "What?!"
He definitely missed something.
"Oh my God, you have a crush," she smiled, taking a sip of her drink, and Kiri's eyes went wide, "What??" he leaned forward, he just met Bakugo! It wasn't a crush, and how did they already know? They made sure not to talk about it or even hint at something.
"You have that look when you get a crush! You get this dumb smile and you completely zone out! Pluuus, you haven't denied it, so spill."
He looked shell-shocked. He hadn't gone back down to the cove in a while; Bakugo might not even be there anymore. "I haven't met anyone!" he tried to deny.
"That's such a lie!" She called him out on his bullshit.
"I can't talk about this yet, and it's not a crush if we just met." He tried to defend himself.
She simply smiled. "Girl or boy?" she asked, and knowing Mina she would ask till she got a description.
"Boy, I think," he said, with Bakugo it was hard to tell, as his top half was male, but he was also a fish. Were fish intersex, or could they change gender like frogs can? But Bakugo was also partly human, and not a frog.
He should google this, see what he can find out about sirens, mermaids, and fish in general.
But first, he would have to survive the questions Mina had for him.
"What do you mean, 'I think?" She seemed confused.
"Well, it's kinda hard to tell," he muttered, unsure of himself at this point.
"Like, they're non-binary?"
"Not sure. I didn't ask, and they didn't give me their pronouns." It's not like he can ask, he can barely remember what he learned yesterday. "When are you seeing them again? What's their name?"
"Uh... later today, and Bakugo," he said, trying to get the pronunciation correct.
"Bakugo? Haven't heard that before, where are they from?"
Maybe he should have made up a name? "Uh, didn't ask." He kinda lied. He couldn't tell them Bakugo was from the ocean. "Where y'all meeting?" Denki piped in, giving Kiri the 'look.'
"Like I'd tell you guys, the next thing I'd know would be you guys are following me," he joked, "But I am heading out," he said, getting up from the table. "Aww!" They all whined, watching him leave before Sero called out, "Say hi to Bakugo for me," he said the name very well as the way Bakugo introduced himself. He glanced back, raising his eyebrow at Sero, who winked before turning back to his meal.
He knew something Kiri didn't. They had met Sero last year; his parents moved here on business.
But Sero never talked about them, just said they were busy people, and didn't like to be disturbed. Of course, they didn't pry, family problems weren't fun and he wouldn't want his troubles out in the open, but what did Sero mean? Does he know Bakugo? Is he the same as Bakugo? He should ask...
If Bakugo knows Sero Hanta.
He headed for the path, going down the trail stepping over rocks and sticks.
~
Emerging into the cove, he looked around the edges of the beach, looking for Bakugo.
The water looked calm, there was no one apart from the waves of the ocean hitting the shore softly.
"Baku!" he called out, looking over the cove water, walking around the sides of the cove.
He heard nothing, and there was no movement in the water, "Baku!" he called louder.
He saw something move, rise to the surface, and soaked blonde hair emerging from the water, gliding over to him, resting on one of the many rocks.
"Hey," he waved, taking his shoes and shirt off and stepping into the water. The sand was soft on his feet, and the seaweed was wrapped around his ankles, but he got over to Bakugo quickly, lowering himself into the water, sitting beside him. In his hand was a napkin, with leftover fries. He had snatched them from the cafe before he left. Since Bakugo offered him food last time, he thought it would be nice to offer his food to the merman.
Bakugo watched his movement, almost scared, or distant.
He unwrapped the napkin, gently inching it closer to him.
He tried to remember the word Bakugo used for food, efo... enfo, endfo. "End-fo?" he questioned himself out loud.
It took Bakugo a second, he didn't say it right, but then the light came to his eyes, and he smiled. "E'nfo," he said, reaching his frilled handout; taking one of the fries, he studied it. Looking over, Kiri took one, putting it in his mouth and eating it. Bakugo watched him and did the same. His eyes went wide, and he swallowed it, he seemed speechless.
He took another, marveling at its taste. Kiri smiled, he was so cute, he wondered how Bakugo would act if he had sweeter foods, like caramel, ice cream, or donuts. Would it be ok for him to eat, could he be like a dog that can't eat certain foods? He wished he had someone to ask, someone that knew both languages... Wait, Sero.
"Uhh, Bakugo?" he looked over while eating another fry.
Kiri wasn't sure how to ask, would just saying his name be enough, "You know," he pointed to Bakugo, "Sero Hanta?" he gestured to the air as if another person was there.
He seemed confused, then said it back, "Sero Hanta, dico eh, ah, junmo froniku, eh." He then nodded.
"Sero here?" He pointed to the ground. Bakugo still seemed confused.
Kiri got up to get his phone from his bag. Fishing it out, he called Sero.
The cell service wasn't great, but it was enough for the call to go through and the slightly choppy voice came through.
"Yellow?" the line came through.
"Hey Sero, did you mean to tell me something before I left the cafe?"
He waited for Sero to speak, eyes watching the ripples of the water hitting the sand. He heard a noise on the other side like Sero had closed a door or something, before speaking again, "That your boyfriend is a fish?" He could hear the slight smirk in Sero's voice.
Kiri blushed brightly. So Sero knows, "Ya, I know. He knows me." Sero spoke.
"Oh." That was all the redhead could say in response. He heard Sero ask, "Also how did you meet him and where? Cuz they only live at the bottom of the ocean?"
"We're at the cove, the storm washed him in," Kiri said.
Sero hummed, "Ok, on my way there." He hung up the phone. He and Sero weren't really friends, Him and Mina were really close, and Denki was just friendly to everyone, but Him and Sero never talked much, having almost nothing in common.
Bakugo simply watched, food in hand. Watching Kiki talk to the thin box, the redhead came back over to him, sitting beside him again. Kiki spoke again, saying things in his language. He heard Sero's name again! He hadn't seen him in so long, how did Kiki know him, and why would he still be shocked about his tail? Didn't Sero have a tail?
He ate another morsel of the food Kiki gave him, not a clue what it was, but fuck, it was good! It tasted like salt, but the bad salt, like when his gills sucked in too much water, and the gross feeling coursed over his taste buds.
He still wanted to talk with Kiki. He wanted to know his language, so he reached over to the redhead, tapping him on the shoulder.
He looked over, and Katsuki tapped the rock that he was currently leaning on, then gestured for him to speak. "Rock," he said. Katsuki tried to say it back. "Roku," he tried. "CK, ro-ck" Kiki said.
"Rocku."
Kiki smiled, laughing lightly. Then he moved forward, throwing the top part of the cloth off, and this was the first time Katsuki really saw the skin of the Land Siran. They liked to cover themselves, which baffled him.
He saw Kiki move over to the deeper part of the cove. Katsuki set the salt sticks down on the rock, as he too moved forward, swimming over to the redhead, and circled him, keeping the splashing to the minimum.
He dipped his head under grabbing and tugging at the redhead's separate tails? He wasn't sure what they were called, but they were soft and prickly. He rubbed his frilled hand up and down one, feeling the skin shift the tiniest bit. He reached up, feeling the muscles under his hand, then he got to the things he wore covering his lower body. Why?
So he grabbed the cloth, yanking it down. Kiki scrambled and splashed in the water, his hands came down yanking the cloth back up over his body. Katsuki didn't get a good look at what was under the cloth before Kiki pulled it up, which didn't make sense. What was the point of covering? He wasn't hunting, and it was bright red, so it definitely wasn't camouflage.
He could hear Kiki saying something, but the humming of the water made it hard to figure out what it was, so he didn't bother with even trying. Not like he could understand it anyway. He wanted to know what he was hiding, what was under the cloth that made them cover it. So he tried again, but Kiki was holding it, keeping it on his body. It made him frown.
He didn't like that, so he peeked his head above the water, glaring at Kiki. He said something in a very fast voice, which sounded like a string of broken syllables, and his face had gone all red, Katsuki raised his eyebrow.
These land Sirens were so confusing... but interesting.
Looking Kiki in the eyes he yanked down the cloth and held it down, his sharp nails slightly ripping it. His head went under the water...
The sight had his eyes going wide, he wasn't sure what he was even looking at.
Kiki pulled the cloth back up and rushed back to the shallow part of the water, causing ripples and splashes, and sand to bunch up under him and make the water foggy.
Katsuki didn't move, he was shocked!
His mind drew a blank.
It was like Kiki's skin, but darker, and it raised slightly from the water floating in front of him, there was black hair too. Curly and short. The end or top of it had a slit, and some loose skin covered most of it.
He turned, eyes wide like saucers. He needed to know more.
"What the fuck is that?" he yelled, getting as close as he could to the red-faced redhead. Kiki didn't say anything, just bit his lip, eyes looking anywhere but him.
He said something, Katsuki now understood why they kept it covered... he thanked the ocean that he didn't have whatever THAT was.
Kiki didn't say anything, he kinda just sat in the sand, looking over at the land weeds.
There was a racket, and out walked Sero?!
Bakugo's eyes went wide. How?! Sero... Tail?!
Where was his tail?! It was gone, and he was on the land like Kiki?? Many questions filled his head, eyes wide, and mouth going dry. He was losing his mind.
~
"H-hey Sero!" Kiri called his face still red about what Bakugo did.
"Ey, yo!" he said and nodded to Bakugo, who looked shocked out of his scales.
He screamed back a mess of words.
Sero laughed and said something back, Bakugo was still shocked, mouth hung open, his eyes watched his legs like it was some kind of beast.
"What's uh...?"
Sero ignored him and kept talking with Bakugo.
He said something and the blonde's expression went blank, he looked down, pushed off one of the rocks, and swam away to the bottom of the cove, Sero sighed.
"What did you say?" Kiri asked.
"Told him he needs to go back to the ocean, told him to go home."
"Wait, if he goes home-" before he could finish Sero cut in, "you won't see him again, and it's for the best," "What?"
"Humans and Sirens don't mix, you should never have met!"
"And what about you? How do you know their language so well?!" Kiri snapped.
"Cuz I was one."
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