Bakugou hadn't spoken to (Y/n) since they set sail three days ago. She couldn't tell whether it was pride or regret that was causing him to avoid her at all cost, but it was beginning to get on her nerves.
She tapped her finger against the barrel that she sat upon, watching the crew bustling around. She'd become well acquainted with the cook, helping him prepare food for the people on board as well as cleaning up whatever mess was leftover. At first, (Y/n) thought that it would allow her to talk to Bakugou again - if she was being honest, she wasn't mad at him, but it frustrated her that he refused to apologise - but when she helped to dish out the food to the rest of the crew, Bakugou was nowhere to be seen. (Y/n) had given up at this point; if he wanted to talk to her, he'd do it in his own time.
For now, she was soaking up the sun by basking on some crates and barrels. Nobody seemed to mind, if anything she would be getting in the way whenever she tried to help. Everyone had a system on the ship that she just didn't fit into, the best she could do was care for some of the crew when they inevitably had too much to drink.
"And they called me lazy." Kaminari's shadow blocked the sun, casting a shadow over (Y/n)'s face. (Y/n) took off her hat and threw it lightly at him, a slight smile tugging at her lips.
"Don't you have anything better to do than block my sun? We don't have weather like this where I'm from, so I'm savouring it while I can."
Kaminari held up his hands along with (Y/n)'s hat, "Hey, I'm off duty right now. Do you know how boring it is up there?" He motioned towards the crow's nest, I dull look on his face. "Besides, you're fun to talk to." Kaminari plopped down next to (Y/n), stuffing the hat back on her head.
(Y/n) brushed a strand of messy hair out of her face and sat up. She leaned back on her arms, tilting her head up to allow the sun to hit it once again.
"Bakugou still not spoken to you?" Kaminari asked, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back. He was only wearing his white tunic today and no coat, it was far too hot for that.
(Y/n) shook her head begrudgingly, "You'd think I was the one who insulted him."
"He'll come around, that man's ego is bigger than this damn ship." He chuckled, "But if you're feeling lonely without him, I won't deny you a bit of company." (Y/n) hit his arm, hard. "Okay, okay! I'm kidding... mostly."
The girl scoffed, "Is this how you charm every lady you meet?"
"Is it working?"
"(Y/n)!" Kirishima's voice called out from across the boat. She looked up to see the boy stretching his large wings as he walked up from the hatch. He yawned loudly and strolled over to the two of them, giving Kaminari a tired little wave.
"How'd you sleep?" (Y/n) smiled at him as he sat down beside her.
Kirishima let out a little whimper, the bags under his eyes evident as to what the answer was. "Bakugou keeps waking me up because I'm 'snoring way to fucking loud'." He pouted and rested his head on (Y/n)'s shoulder. She chuckled, gently patting his head as he nuzzled, half-awake, into her hand. It reminded her of when Bakugou came into her room back at the desert village, claiming the exact same thing.
"You can always sleep in my hammock for a bit, I'm sure Mina won't mind if you're gone for a little while."
Kirishima hummed slightly but made no move to go anywhere. Instead, he flopped back on the barrels and put an arm over his face to shield his eyes from the sun.
"I'm glad I don't have to room with Bakugou anymore, I can't count the number of times he kicked me out for 'breathing too loud'." The three of them chuckled together as Bakugou slowly emerged from the hatch, looking equally as tired as Kirishima, but much more annoyed. He glanced towards the group before strolling to his usual spot at the bow of the ship.
The red dragon boy stared at his friend with a deep frown, "How long is he going to keep this up for? He can't ignore you for the whole voyage."
(Y/n) ignored him, her eyes trained on the blonde boy who slumped over the railing. Bakugou's hair brushed against his forehead as the wind hit it.
"Is he still brooding?" Sero called out from above. A rope pulled taught as he slid down, landing gracefully next to the three of them.
Kaminari tilted his head forwards and raised an eyebrow, "Well sucks to be him. If he doesn't wanna talk to (Y/n)," He passes a wink in her direction, "I won't let my chance slip."
(Y/n) crinkled her nose in mock disgust, "What chance?" The boy pouted and leaned back,
"Resisting my charm is futile, you'll give in to me eventually."
(Y/n) chuckled and shook her head once again, looking back up in Bakugou's direction. His red eyes caught her's briefly before they moved back to look at the vast ocean.
"Come on, sitting around all day isn't going to get us anywhere. Get to work." Sero hit Kirishima's knee, causing the boy to wake back up from his dozing with a whine of protest.
As the day began to pass and the sun started to go down, the crew started to rest. Some sat around in small groups drinking, while others went below deck to catch up on rest. (Y/n) stood at the helm with Ashido, both of them silently watching the crew in amusement as Ashido steered the ship.
Kaminari was sat back upon the crates that (Y/n) was basking on earlier, holding an old lute in his arms. He played a cheery sea shanty which most of the crew sang along to, giving a whole new atmosphere to the ship.
(Y/n) sighed contently, watching as the sun cast the sky in shades of red, orange and pink. There were barely any clouds in the sky which allowed (Y/n) to see the stars as they slowly emerged out of hiding. A day like this almost made (Y/n) forget everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks. Almost.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Kirishima ran to the side of the boat and began to hurl the contents of whatever food the cook had made earlier into the ocean. Ashido burst into laughter,
"Looks like our little Eijirou left his sea legs back at the docks."
Kirishima's head lifted back up to show his pale face. His red hair was stuck to his forehead and he slumped against the edge of the boat for support. The rest of the boys, who were sat near Kaminari as they drank, lifted their tankards and cheered towards Kirishima who threw his head back over the side of the ship once again. All except Bakugou who remained silent, casting subtle glances up to the girls.
"Not much of a drinker?" (Y/n) let out a sympathetic chuckle. Ashido shook her head and leaned against the helm. She took off her hat and shook out her hair, letting it blow gently in the wind.
It felt peaceful to be out on the ocean, with no worries about anything. (Y/n) was beginning to wonder if the pirates' life really was for her, but when she thought long and hard about it, (Y/n) knew she would eventually grow sick of the ocean. She spotted Sero slowly rise from his seat and head towards her and Ashido, patting Kirishima on the back as he passed by. When he reached them, he held out a tankard for Ashido,
"Captain." He smiled cheekily as she took the rum and then turned to (Y/n) holding out another tankard. (Y/n) shook her head; she'd no doubt be looking after Kirishima tomorrow morning, so she wanted to be in the right headspace. Sero shrugged and downed the liquid quickly. "Want me to take over for a bit?" He motioned to the helm.
Ashido shook her head, "Nah, I'm cool. Take (Y/n) down to the others, I'm pretty sure she's in need of a bit of entertainment other than watching you all night."
"Are you sure you don't want my company?" (Y/n) asked.
"It's okay," Sero said, "You go down, I'll stay up here." The girl nodded to them both and bit them farewell before skipping down the stairs. Her first instinct was to go to Kirishima. She leaned over him, brushing some of his red hair out of his face.
"You okay, Kiri?" She whispered, rubbing his back in a motherly fashion. He held up his thumb, not moving his head or speaking in fear of bringing anything else up.
"You coming to drink with us?" Kaminari called over to her. She twisted her head around and gave him a small smile.
"I'm passing on the drinks tonight." She motioned her head to Kirishima. Kaminari leaned back and began to play another tune on his lute.
"Suit yourself."
(Y/n) gave one last pat on the boy's back before making her way to sit beside Kaminari. Bakugou refused to meet her gaze, keeping his red eyes trained intensely on his cup. (Y/n) inhaled deeply and looked at the lute, "Didn't realise you were much of a bard. Where'd you learn to play?"
Kaminari smirked, "I picked up a few songs back before I began sailing. I learned myself by watching others play, and then when the time was right," He leaned forward, placing an elbow on his knee and dangling the lute between his thighs, "I stole one."
(Y/n) huffed and crossed her arms, "How noble of you."
The boy shrugged and continued his slow strumming of the cords. (Y/n) turned her attention to Bakugou. Her mouth opened and closed as she thought of something to say but no words came out. Before she managed to even make a sound, Bakugou spoke for her.
"Your foot keeps tapping, it's annoying." Not exactly what she was hoping for, but this was the first time he had spoken to her in three days so she'd take it. (Y/n) locked her legs together in embarrassment, gripping the sides of the barrel with her fingers.
"I was wondering..." She trailed off, not knowing where to go with this, "I was.. wondering... what your home was like." Bakugou looked up at her. For a moment her heart skipped a beat. (Y/n) wouldn't admit it, but she kind of missed the way his eyes looked at her.
"I already told you." He grumbled, swirling the rum around in the tankard. (Y/n) frowned,
"No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did." Bakugou retorted, "You said you wanted to go somewhere tropical. I told you it was tropical."
Kaminari snickered, "That doesn't give much away."
"Shut it, Dunceface!" He growled at the lightning mage.
"Okay..." (Y/n) shuffled forwards, crossing her arms over her legs, "Tell me what the weather is like there."
Bakugou frowned and shrugged, tipping the drink into his throat, "I guess it rains... A lot." He trailed back into silence again. Even Kaminari's music couldn't ease the tension, so he stood up.
"Well you two have fun, I'm going to get another drink." He said quickly, skipping off in the direction of a keg.
And then there were two.
Bakugou slouched, his legs crossed beneath him. (Y/n) saw his lips move slightly as if he were saying something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. "I can't hear you, Bakugou."
"-m sorry." He mumbled louder. (Y/n) sighed and moved to sit next to him.
"Seems like you're saying that an awful lot lately." Bakugou huffed and placed his tankard next to him.
"I didn't mean what I said. You're not just some idiotic human." His voice was still low and he continued to avoid her gaze like a plague.
(Y/n) tilted her head, biting the inside of her lips, "Then what am I?" She fumbled with her fingers, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
"You're," Bakugou paused, thinking hard. (Y/n) noticed him swallow as his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrow. "You're... you."
"I'm me?" Now it was her turn to furrow her eyebrows.
Bakugou shrugged, pulling his cloak around himself as the cold night's wind started to pick up. "I don't know. You're just.... you. I don't know how else to explain it."
"Explain what?"
"I don't know!" His hands rushed up to his face and he rubbed it in embarrassment, trying to get rid of the blush creeping over his cheeks.
(Y/n) held back a smug smile and began to swing her legs back and forth, "Well, in that case, I guess you're not a complete self-righteous ass." That got Bakugou's attention as his head snapped back up and he glared at her. His gaze held no malice, it was playful and it caused (Y/n)'s stomach to flutter slightly. "Kiri told me that you kept him awake for snoring too loud." She quickly swerved away from the subject, "I'm kind of surprised you didn't sneak back into my room again."
Bakugou snorted, "If you ever tell anyone about that-"
"You'll have my head, I know." She joked, leaning towards him for warmth, "You're so predictable."
"I'm not."
Kirishima slowly stumbled back over to them and he slumped down on the floor by (Y/n)'s feet. She sighed and pat his head gently, "We should get you off to bed. I've got a long day tomorrow if you have a hangover."
Bakugou stood up and hauled Kirishima over his shoulder. His tattoo's peaked out from under his cape as he wrapped an arm under Kirishima's legs to keep him secure. "I've got him. You should get some rest too." He told (Y/n) slowly making his way towards the hatch, but he stopped just before walking down the stairs, "Goodnight, (Y/n)."
"Night."
(Y/n) couldn't sleep.
Ashido had gone to bed a couple of hours ago and (Y/n) could see her swinging gently back and forth as she slept. The (h/c) girl sighed, swinging her legs out of her hammock and creeping barefoot towards the door to the cabin.
The air outside was freezing. (Y/n) wrapped her arms around herself as she walked across the deck. A few of the crew who were on night duty gave a few looks as she walked passed them, but each of them turned their gaze away quickly as she caught them staring. She walked towards the bow of the ship and looked out over the sea.
She smiled as she stared out at the moon. Its silver reflection was scattered across the water, looking like thousands of tiny gems. (Y/n) closed her eyes, breathing in the salty air as she leaned forward on her arms.
"I thought I told you to get some rest." Bakugou's voice made her jump. He strode up to her casually, standing beside her and looking out over the ocean.
"How come you're awake?"
"Why do you think?" The blonde boy growled out. (Y/n) smiled softly.
"He can't help it." She whispered, looking back at the moon.
A body pressed against her side and something heavy was draped over her shoulders. Bakugou awkwardly pulled (Y/n) against him, enveloping her in his warmth and cape. She glanced up at him with a bewildered look on her face, a blush creeping up her neck.
He stared in the opposite direction, "It's cold out, you should keep warm, dumbass."
"Says you." She narrowed her eyes and playfully poked his bare torso. Bakugou hit her hand away, rolling his eyes. "Speaking of, how's your wound?" Her finger trailed across his side and to his bandage, causing him to shiver.
He leaned back a little, as to not pull his cape off her shoulders, so she could take a look. (Y/n) leaned down slightly and gently tugged down the bandage to reveal... nothing. All that remained was a faint red scratch, where he was impaled, and the stitches. She crouched closer in amazement, tracing her finger along the cut. "You're practically healed, but that's..."
"We heal faster than hu- your people." He grunted as he stared down at her with a soft expression.
"Amazing." She smiled breathlessly, unable to move her hands away. However, she cringed when she noticed the swelling around the stitches, "We should remove these before they heal into your skin."
Bakugou's eyes widened, "Wait, they don't just fall out or some crap?"
(Y/n) swallowed nervously and bit the inside of her lips to stop herself from laughing at him. She shook her head, causing Bakugou to groan and run his hands down his face.
"Come on, I'll help." She took his hand and led him to a crate where he could sit down. He stared at her intensely, his eyes almost glowing in the darkness. (Y/n) crouched back down beside him and pushed him to lay down. He did so begrudgingly, keeping his head propped up so he could watch her. "I'm going to need something to cut them with, and to disinfect the wound." She mumbled to herself, "Do you know which keg they keep the ale in?"
Bakugou shrugged, "Beats me? All of them?"
"Helpful." She narrowed her eyes at him sarcastically, before flicking her gaze to the sword still attached to his hip, "Can I use your sword?"
"And potentially slip and get me stabbed again? Hell no!" Bakugou snarled in horror, clutching the sword at his waist.
"Well, what else am I supposed to use?" (Y/n) raise an eyebrow.
"Something smaller, and less threatening!" He snapped, eyeing her up and down. She placed a hand upon her hip and stared down at him. After a moment, he groaned loudly and handed over his sword. Her hands wrapped around the handle, fingers brushing lightly against Bakugou's.
"I'll be right back, stay there." (Y/n) pointed at him, giving him a stern look before turning and looking for some rum.
It didn't take long to find some, the ship was full of it. Nearly every barrel either held rum, weapons or cannon balls. Pirates, (Y/n) shook her head and rolled her eyes.
She grabbed an empty tankard from nearby that had been leftover from earlier that night and filled it with the beverage. It spilled over her knuckles slightly as she carried it back to the impatient boy. Bakugou had an arm draped lazily over his stomach, which (Y/n) pushed off when she reached him. He watched as she placed down the rum beside him and lifted the sword, carefully wedging the blade underneath one of the neat stitches.
Bakugou flinched as the cold metal pressed against his skin and inhaled sharply. His actions caused (Y/n) to quickly stop and look up, her eyes full of worry, panicked that she may have cut him. His red eyes bore into hers before he flung his head back and sighed loudly, "Just get it over with, we don't have all night."
The blade cut through the stitches one by one until they were eventually all loose and (Y/n) could begin to pull them out, "Hold still." She warned him as her fingers wrapped around the first strand. She pulled it slowly, watching Bakugou's stomach move in protest at the odd sensation. He breathed in through his teeth, hands shaking slightly. It didn't take long for her to get the rest of them out. Now all she had to do was disinfect it with the rum, and he should be fine.
She picked up the tankard, looking at Bakugou once again, "Do you want to hold my hand for this part?" He furrowed his eyebrows and lifted his top lip in a sneer.
"Why the hell would I want to hold your ha- fuck!" He cried out as (Y/n) poured some of the liquid onto the bleeding cuts. He quickly gripped her wrist, pulling her arm away to prevent her from putting on any more.
"I did ask." (Y/n) stared at him with an unamused look on her face.
"You could have told me it would hurt first!"
"Keep your voice down." She scolded, "People are sleeping."
Bakugou glared at (Y/n), still squeezing her wrist tightly. Even in the darkness, (Y/n) could make out the brightness of his eyes. It was a constrictive gaze, not allowing her to look away even if she tried. It made her feel like prey. She didn't like feeling like prey.
"Just... do it then." Bakugou trailed off, releasing her arm. (Y/n) smiled at him sympathetically, nudging his knee with her other hand.
"It'll be quick, I promise."
She tipped the tankard once more, letting the rum spill out onto the cuts one more time. Bakugou's hand shot out again and resumed its place around her wrist, but this time he didn't pull her away. He rested it there while she did her work, eyes shut tightly and breathing shakily through his nose. Once the last of the liquid fell out of the cup, (Y/n) pulled her sleeve down over her hand and began to wipe away the excess.
"Thank you." Bakugou quietly grumbled out through his clenched teeth. (Y/n) stopped, resting her sleeve against his stomach for a moment as she processed his words.
"You're welcome."
A cold gust of wind suddenly blew across the deck, making (Y/n) shiver. Even Bakugou wrapped his cape around himself. "You should get back inside," The boy grunted, "You'll catch a cold of not."
"I'm fine. I'm used to the cold."
"I'm not." Bakugou crinkled his nose, teeth chattering slightly.
"Well maybe, if you actually wore something up here, you wouldn't have to worry about the cold."
He snorted, looking away to hide his bashfulness, "Stop looking you dumbass. You're worse than Dunceface."
"Am not!"
"Now look who needs to keep it down." He leaned back against the crates, a smug look plastered on his face. Bakugou lay there silently for a moment, watching (Y/n) glare at him playfully, before pulling his cape open and motioning his head for her to get in.
(Y/n) didn't need tempting. She was grateful to him for even lending her his warmth as she sat down beside him and wrapped the large red fabric around her.
"Before you get any ideas, I'm doing this because I'm cold, not the other way around. Got it?" His tone didn't quite reach his face as he tried to hold back a smile. (Y/n) nodded, bringing her legs up to her and leaning against him.
They sat there in silence, feeling the gentle rock of the boat as it sailed through the soft waves of the ocean. Under Bakugou's cape, the bite of the wind felt less harsh.
(Y/n) picked at her nails, often closing her eyes as the quiet ambience around them made her feel sleepy. She let out an involuntary yawn, making her eyes water slightly.
Bakugou looked down at her softly, "You should get back to bed." He whispered, draping his arm around her shoulder. Even he was beginning to feel the lack of sleep catching up to him.
The girl shook her head stubbornly, "I want to know more about where you live. And not just the weather."
Bakugou tutted, a smile playing on his face, "What do you want to know?"
"What are the houses like? And the people? I want to know what kind of clothes everyone wears and what you do for fun." She babbled, closing her eyes as she felt the wind brush against her face.
"You talk too much." He responded, pulling his cape back over her shoulder as it began slipped off. "Well, we live in huts, rather than houses. The ground can be pretty dangerous at night, so we put them in the trees."
"That's weird." (Y/n) snorted, looking up at him with a cheeky grin.
"You living on the floor is weird." He retorted mockingly. "We have bridges that span from tree to tree. It's fun to jump on them when someone walks across." A sinister look crossed Bakugou's face as he relived the memories of his home. "It's not like the village we were at before. We don't have a market or stupid shit like that."
(Y/n) continued to examine his face as he spoke, watching how his eyes lit up as he spoke. "How do you pay for stuff then?"
"We trade. My people rarely use gold unless were doing business across the sea." Bakugou explained, subconsciously wiping the rum she had spill off of her knuckles, "My mother worries about that though. That old hag keeps pressuring me to help her with it because I'm going to take over one day, but that shit is boring and useless. We don't even need any of the stuff they bring over. Though I will admit," His fingers drummed against the side of the crate, "they do bring over some good food that we don't have back home." He stopped speaking as he saw (Y/n)'s eyes flutter shut.
She rested on him, slowly feeling herself drifting in and out of consciousness. The unusual softness of his voice was soothing, lulling her to sleep. He inhaled deeply, resting his hand on top of her head, "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."
(Y/n) could barely hear the last of his words as she fell asleep against him, breathing softly as his callous fingers stroked her hair.
"Sleep well."