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

14

“How long ago was that?” She asked, and Bakugou shrugged. 

“I was about 7 or so. So maybe, like, 10 years ago by now? I barely remember a time before the accident, only little snippets of running around with my dad during the markets, or like, sitting on his shoulders as we bartered with the baker.” He smiled fondly at the memories, but he quickly realised the pink girl’s glowing gaze was on him, and the muscles in his face quickly relaxed, once again returning to the neutral, if not grumpy, expression. 

“What are their names?” Her voice was gentle, prying, yet compelled the blonde to answer, feeling increasingly more free as the weight was lifted off his chest.

“Mitsuki and Masaru.” He smiled, remembering their faces when he told them he found a job and that he could now help support them. He purposefully left out the memory of the sadness on their faces when he mentioned moving away, possibly for good. That isn’t one he needed right now; he wasn’t sure he could cope with it at the moment. 

“So how long ago did you start sailing on the boat, then?” 

“About 3 years ago. I left when I was nearly 15, when the captain of the crew dropped by. He instantly asked if I would be interested in a position, and when he said that I would earn my keep, I said yes. I saw the way my mum was struggling to afford a 6 person household with her failing business, and I jumped at the opportunity to help. Even just staying somewhere else for a while would take a little of the load off her shoulders, let alone the addition of an extra fund.” Bakugou shrugged as he told the story, and Mina sat and stared, eyes wide and heavily invested in his story.  

“You mentioned the other soldier’s wife and kid? Why don’t they work?” She asked, and Bakugou shrugged again. Her tone was light, simply just participating in the conversation rather than interrogating the blonde, though her phrasing sounded almost accusatory. The blonde shrugged it off, knowing it wasn’t intentional; she in no way wanted to upset him, and he knew that.

“Inko-san did try and get a job. She married young, and when Hisashi landed a job in the guard, she had no need to work. Plain and simply, it's hard for her to find a job, since she doesn’t have much experience. On occasion, she helped mum with sewing, mostly just when she had several orders at once. There was one time when she worked with the baker, but their business started going under, and she was the first to be let go of her position.”

Mina waited for the blonde to continue his story, answer her question about the soldier’s kid, but minutes passed and there was no mention of the rest of his family. 

“What about the other kid?” She began to fret the worst, that maybe he and Katsuki grew to be brothers, only for the other to pass away in an accident. Scenario after scenario ran through her head, but when a sigh left the other’s lips, she silenced her thoughts. 

“His name is Izuku Midoriya, and I hate him. When dad first came back, and the Midoriya’s moved in with us, he would constantly follow me around, and at the time I dreamed of becoming a soldier like my dad. Deku used to just follow me around. At first I didn't mind, you know? Someone else to praise me and tell me how cool I was for following my dreams, all of that stuff. But I grew tired of it, very quickly. He’d always interrupt my training, and get hurt, and just stupid shit like that; I ended up becoming his babysitter, after a while. Eventually, our town held a festival where people could fight in front of the captain of the guard, which was meant to secure your spot if you impressed him.”

Mina could see where this was going, and she already felt bad for the blonde.

“He and I were up against each other. We had duelled several times in the past, and not once was he ever anywhere near my level of skill. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was never up to my level. But somehow, he bested me. I was thrown out of the circle, essentially ensuring I would never be a soldier. I confronted him about it, but he refused to talk to me, even going so far as to camp outside in the backyard so he wouldn’t have to see my face. And I think that was the final straw, you know? I was upset, I was so angry that I lost my position to him, but I would've grown past it. I think I would, anyway. But then he started ignoring me, actively avoiding me, when all I wanted was an answer.”

His hands fisted and unfisted at his side, leaving small crescent shapes in the place where his fingernails dug into his flesh. The pink girl wanted to reach out and grab his hands, unfurl them and lay them flat in an attempt to soothe his anger, but she also didn’t want to overstep her boundaries. They literally met an hour ago, she can’t see why he would be anywhere near comfortable enough to allow a stranger to just grab onto him like that. Although, she didn’t have that moral fear earlier in the day, when her tentacles were splayed out over the entirety of his body. Perhaps it's because the anger was rolling off the blonde, and she was content with that anger not being targeted towards her? Yeah, that’s probably it. 

“I was- honestly, I still kind of am- concerned that maybe he was dealing with something beyond himself. That’s the only reason I could think for him to have just suddenly overpowered me like that. It’s either that, or he lied to me for years beforehand, making himself seem weak so I grew a big head or something, which I think is just as bad. He was, unsurprisingly, offered the position over me. And it hurt. I wanted nothing more than to prove I was worthy to my dad, and when the person who made that impossible refused to even look at me, I felt truly worthless. I had nothing, at that point, but then I met Aizawa. He offered me a spot on the crew, told me he would put me in a position that played to my strengths, which ended up being navigation, and I instantly said yes. Finally, something that stupid fucking Deku couldn’t get in the way of, you know?”

Bakugou chuckled, completely dry and humourless as his red eyes glazed over, and Mina couldn’t tell if it’s a result of him crying or zoning out. 

“I was wrong, though. Deku approached Aizawa and asked for a position with him, begging him and practically throwing himself down at the captain’s feet, saying he was willing to do any position, and Aizawa accepted. And that hurt even more than kicking my ass at our winter festival, considering he only joined the crew as a jab at me, knowing I specifically took that job to get away from him. That’s what sealed the deal for me. He took the chance for me to prove myself away time after time, and then avoided me when I tried to talk to him. And to this day, I still haven’t spoken more than a sentence to him. I refuse to. Everytime I go to ask, to clear the air, I get so angry about my ‘could have been’ life.” 

Silence again. Mina wanted to say something, anything to break the silence. But she didn’t know what to say.  At one point, she tried to wrap a tentacle around his wrist, to show her support, but he flicked her off. She took that as the dismissal it was, laying her top half down on the rock beside his feet and just letting her presence provide any comfort the blonde was willing to accept. 

So the two sat there, in silence, waiting for Kirishima to come back. And, luckily for the blonde, Mina either didn’t see or didn’t ask about the tears that had, at some point, started running down his face.