As Deep As The Ocean || •Mermaid AU• || KiriBaku

9

Bakugou held the fish over the fire, the flames licking at his fingertips as the meat inside slowly changed colour, charring around the outside where remnants of scales remained. Kirishima was watching the entire thing intensely, overly invested in the workings of the blonde boy he called a friend.

“So, you guys don’t just eat them raw?” He asked, nibbling at the pieces of fish Bakugou had discarded while preparing the food, mostly just the head, the shark confused about how humans couldn’t just bite into the animals the same way he could. 

“I mean, we can. It’s just better to cook it. We can’t just bite into them, though. We still have to prepare it, even if we do eat it raw. We can’t eat all the bits.” He offhandedly gestured to the chunk of fish Kirishima was currently chewing on, before turning his attention back to his meal for the night, moving the mullet around in his hands to evenly cook the fish. 

“That must suck. I could never! I get too hungry, and just bite into it.” He swung his arms around animatedly as he did, his injured arm flexing and moving against the tight, make-do bandage Bakugou had attempted to mend him with, the action causing the blonde to physically cringe at the sudden outpour of blood from the wound. It had bled through a while ago at that point, but neither of them had sufficient materials to continue to redress the wound whenever it was needed. They had agreed to rewrap it with seaweed after the blonde finished dinner, the redhead mentioning his friend often did that if his injury was severe enough.

“I… can’t imagine how you could just bite into one.” The human muttered under his breath, not really a response to Kirishima, but rather more like a justification to himself that he was right to be grossed out at the sight of the shark eating the remnants and parts of the fish he discarded. 

The fish currently cooking over the fire eventually finished, the meaty bits turning a golden-brown, and slightly charred around the outside- just the way Bakugou liked it. He bit into it, humming at the warmth in his mouth. It was good, but plain, the fish having no seasonings or additives to add flavour aside from its life having been spent in the salty sea. He had nothing else to eat it with, and would likely become extremely hungry again rather quickly, however, the blonde had no complaints; at least he had food. 

He was lucky to even be alive, after all. 

He continued to eat, the food sitting heavy in his stomach and causing a nauseousness to overtake him. He hadn’t eaten in what was probably a few days, and the sudden abundance of food in his stomach wouldn’t play over well. He held back a gag at the feeling of the fish sliding down his throat, but continued to power through the ill feeling, sighing in relief as he came to the end of the meal. 

Kirishima was sitting on the rock next to him, webbing between his fingers visible as his hands lay splayed out behind him, head cocked to the side as deep red eyes scanned over him, watching every movement as he ate; the movement of his jaw as he chewed, the way his  throat moved when he swallowed, the momentary cease of breathing as he waited for the food to hit his stomach. He was so, so curious at the inner workings of the human, watching and learning every little thing he could about the ash blonde in front of him. 

“So, what is thermokinesis?” The shark asked after several minutes of Bakugou’s silent eating, eyes darting down to Bakugou’s own fingers that were playing with each other in his lap. The blonde shrugged, picking at his nails and running the pads of his fingers over the smooth, shiny surface of the mullet’s scales he had saved from dinner. 

“I don’t know the specifics of it, just that I can heat up my hands when I think really hard about it. It's usually enough to burn someone if I really concentrate, but it takes a lot  of mental power; it's more like dragging the outside heat towards my hands, and concentrating it there, rather than generating it myself. I once burnt my friend when we were kids because he was trying to hug me, and I wasn't expecting it.” He said nonchalantly, and Kirishima nodded, gaping. 

“Wow! So, is that what you were doing with the sticks earlier? How did it work?” His voice was soft and breathy, seemingly in awe at the specifics behind Bakugou’s little display. 

“When water gets really hot, it evaporates, which means it turns into gas and gets released into the air. I basically just made the water in the sticks too hot, and they dried out. That’s why I was trying to get you to stay away, I didn't know if it would affect you, too. The last thing I wanted was dried shark-man taking up space in my pool.” 

“So, can all the humans do it?” His eyes were wide, and curiosity set them ablaze as he stared at the freckles lining the blonde’s face, watching each muscle move as he just existed. 

“Well, yeah, but no. Most humans are born with the capability to do it, but few rarely have the willpower to actually learn. It takes a lot of time to even understand how to access your magic, let alone how to hone it and specialise it and use it to your will. I kno- knew a girl who was able to make certain objects feel lighter to her, but no one else.” His voice was very obviously tired, and he yawned as exhaustion washed over his body. He hadn’t realised how much he had exerted himself that day, despite the short sleep he had taken earlier that day. Although, it didn’t feel like sleep, but more like a drop in bodily functions that caused him to pass out. Now that he had eaten though, and the realisation he had nearly drowned washed over him, his eyes felt droopy as it dawned on him the sheer amount of energy he had consumed earlier.

“Are you tired?” Kirishima piped up from next to him, and Bakugou scowled. 

“Fucking of course, idiot. I nearly drowned earlier, I'm about ready to pass out.” He grumbled, manoeuvring himself so he was laying on his back, hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow. His eyelids were already threatening to close as he stretched out, but the sound of Kirishima dropping swiftly back into the water prevented him from letting the final dregs of sleep catch him. 

“Ok, you go to sleep. I need to go home, but I’ll come back tomorrow, I promise! Goodnight dude.” The shark said, not leaving any time for the blonde to respond before he completely dropped underwater, red tail flicking beneath the surface as he swam away. 

“I fucking hope you do, asshole. I’m stuck here.”

***

“Eijirou! Where have you been, we’ve been looking for you all day-” The red head turned from his position staring at a small clump of brightly coloured starfish, watching as their limbs seemed to wave and swish over the rocks they were residing on, the shark’s attention turned to a familiar shiny, deep-yellow tail slithering through the water and bright yellow hair; unmissable through even the murkiest of water. Excitement washed over him, and he felt ready to burst at the seams to tell Denki all about his adventure with his new friend.

“Denki! You’ll never guess what!” He smiled, sharp teeth on proud display as he swam towards the blonde, matching his pace as they made their way back towards the small village with all the other friends. Their tails swam together, occasionally bumping when their different movement patterns called for it, the slightly slippery surface of his friend’s tail catching Kirishima off guard every time their muscles caught each other’s. 

“What?” Denki’s bright smile mirrored his own, almost face splitting from the size of it as he eagerly awaited his friend’s news. 

“I found a human! Just floating around!” He couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice, his tone growing in volume and pitch until he practically ended up yelling the news. Kaminari, too, could barely contain himself, as a  small jolt of electricity ran up Kirishima’s spine and through his fingertips, resulting in an unpleasant but familiar tingling, quickly followed by a numbness he had grown all too used to. 

“Oh, sorry dude, but what? How?” 

“Oh, I don't know. He was just floating around. He looked like he was asleep, so I took him to the grotto down to the west. He said his name was Bakugou.” The proud smile in his voice was quickly replaced when Kaminari once again zapped him, a slightly higher voltage judging from the more persistent tingling running up his arms, the colour draining from Kaminari’s face. 

“You spoke to it?!”

*****

I hope Bakugou's 'magic' was a little bit more explained now. Basically the idea is that quirks don't exist, but most characters have some sort of physical adaptation that somewhat aligns with their Canon quirks, but it's not always used/accessible. It will be better explained when we meet more characters :)