Chapter Text
“Jirou! Wait up!”
Jirou slowed her swimming only a bit at the sound of Kaminari’s voice. He caught up, leaning on her shoulder as he caught his breath, golden tail moving slowing underneath him to keep him in place.
“We… We shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, his gills opening in closing rapidly as his breathing slowed to normal.
She scoffed. “No one will care. They’re too busy with the king’s… whatever.”
Of course, she knew exactly about the king’s celebration of his 40th lunar cycle being the ruler of Yuuei. She knew where the celebration would take place, how long it would last, the entrances into the kingdom what would be laxer because of the heightened security at the party.
She’d been planning for another visit to the surface for weeks. She’d done her research.
“Fine, let’s go see your silly looking land dwellers.”
She didn’t comment as she pushed on ahead, the faint outline of a sand bar forming on the distance. Kaminari grumbled behind as he joined her.
They swam in silence, the ocean calm today. They passed the sand bar, their tails brushing against the sea floor as it rises up to meet them, the shore visible at this point. She angled them toward a rocky structure that jetted out into he ocean, where the ocean floor was low enough that they wouldn’t be crawling on their bellies to see humans.
The rocks were also conveniently close to the shore, but Kaminari didn’t need to know that just yet.
“Oh, wait!” She paused, drawing a now soaked piece of black cloth from her bag. She wrapped it around her chest, tying off the ends.
“Ugh, what’s that?”
“In case someone sees me, then I can blend in.” She didn’t even know if that was how it was worn, but she’d seen humans wearing it once before and even with the strands of kelp hanging from her ears and slits in the side of her neck, hopefully it would be enough for humans to not think anything was up.
“I- wait, what do you mean by that, we’re not supposed to be seen at all!” Kaminari said, voice growing fainter as she had pushed up against the sandy floor, rising toward the surface.
She breached the surface, on one side of the rocky structure. She only poked her head out enough to see if any humans were close by. With no humans immediately in front of her, she grabbed onto a nearby rock and hoisted herself up onto it.
The warmth of the sun was in direct contrast to the sea water that clung to her skin. Kaminari pushed himself up, nearly falling back into the sea before he joined her. As he struggled, she took in the surroundings. In the far distance to her left, she saw the sand stretch on for a while, before being disrupted by bright colors and movement. Those humans were far enough away that they weren’t a problem. She looked to her right, and momentarily froze.
Kaminari sighed, “Okay, now what do we-” He was interrupted by a webbed hand clamping around his mouth and tugging him down to the rock.
His eyes widened, silently questioning why. She let go of his mouth in order to point to their right.
A group of humans were just starting to walk onto the beach, coming down a small hill. They all held strange objects, talking too fast for them to understand. Two men, one with red hair and one with blond hair, carried two long poles, each with colorful fabric flapping in the wind. Many other started to file in, a man with green hair walking next to a man with what looked to be glass and metal on his face, and a group of girls carrying what looked like bright satchels.
“Why do humans need so much stuff?” Kaminari whispered.
She cuffed him over the head, lightly, so he wouldn’t make a fuss and give up their location. They continued to watch as the group of humans set the pole in the group and opened them, the fabric forming a patch of shade where they laid down more pieces of cloth. Kaminari continued to make fun of the humans’ strange ways.
Jirou couldn’t take her eyes off them.
One of the girls, with pink hair, turned away from the others and called up over the hill. If she concentrated, she could just make out her voice.
“Do you need help, Momo?”
Then, a more feminine voice, coming form no one already on the sand. “There’s some more in the car, but I’ve got this load!”
Jirou looked up to try and find who she was speaking to and-
Oh.
Oh.
Oh no.
Jirou’s mouth dropped open when she saw, who had to be the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. She had tanned skin and was dressed in yellow, determinedly carrying the most amount of stuff out of the rest of the humans. She started walking down the hill, not dropping anything in her arms.
And then, looking back at the woman, she smiled.
Jirou felt her heart skip a beat.
And suddenly, the familiar cold of the water enveloped her.
Her eyes widened as she came to the realization that she had fallen backwards off the rock.
This was a low even for her.
It took her a moment to realign herself with what was up and what was down (the sand and rocks that pressed into her and got in her hair helped).
Suddenly, someone had grabbed onto her arm and pulled her up, till she resurfaced, far enough away from the rocks that she could sit on the ocean floor and still have more of her torso above water.
Jirou pushed her hair of her eyes. “Thanks, Kam-”
This wasn’t Kaminari. This was the woman.
The woman who was now looking at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. This close, Jirou could see her hair had been pulled up, that she had water dripping from her brow, and she looked even more beautiful this close up.
Behind her, she heard something breach the water’s surface.
Fucking Kaminari.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked and for a moment, Jirou forgot how to speak.
“I, uh, I am fine!” There was a chirp and click at the end of her sentence, but she was impressed she was even able to remember the human words she managed to remember from listening to sailors. Humans were much easier to understand than it was to try and speak their language.
The woman smiled again, putting a hand on her chest and Jirou nearly fell into the water again.
“I’m Yaoyorozu, what’s your name?”
Shit, she had no idea how to transform the series of clicks and whistles into something she could understand. And she didn’t want to be rude to her of all people.
A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that the chances of seeing her again were slim to none, due to the whole mermaid thing. She pushed that thought out of her head. Yaoyorozo was still waiting for an answer.
Thankfully, she was saved by the concerned look that crossed Yaoyorozo’s face. “Did you hurt your head? I didn’t see the whole thing, but it looked like a nasty fall, and the jetties are sharp. I could take you to the hospital if needed.”
Jirou momentarily panicked. “I-I’m fine! I, I’m just… separated from my friends.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. She had no idea where fucking Kaminari was.
“Oh, where are they?”
Jirou pointed to the far group of humans to their left. “But, I can get there just fine. Thank you.”
“Oh, well if you’re sure!”
If Jirou squinted and lied to herself, she could’ve sworn she looked disappointed.
Yaoyorozo continued, “And I, uh, hope I get to see you around here more often!”
Jirou nodded before diving back into the water, careful not to show her tail, swimming parallel to the beach. She resurfaced once, to make sure Momo didn’t think she as drowning. She should’ve kept going, eventually turning into open waters, back to the safety of the kingdom, where she didn’t have to hide her tail from humans, didn’t have to risk getting caught in a net or any other horror story mermaids told their young to keep them away from the surface.
But she didn’t keep swimming.
She looked back.
Yaoyorozo was still standing there, watching her. When she noticed Jirou looked back, she waved and smiled.
Jirou could feel her heart melt.
Something tapped on her tail. She looked down to see Kaminari. She scowled, knowing their trip was over. She dove back under the water.
“Thanks for being there for me,” she deadpanned.
Kaminari looked offended. “Oh! I’m sorry, I thought you were doing just time flailing around up there with a human.”
They turned away from the shore, starting to swim into the open ocean.
She smacked his shoulder. “I handled it well, no thanks to you.”
“Whatever, she didn’t try to capture you or anything, so that’s a plus. We’re going to the party now, right?”
It should’ve been an easy answer. Yes, we are going to go back to the kingdom and got to the celebration and I’ll forget everything that happened.
But Jirou had already made up her mind.
They weren’t going to the party.
Jirou had only heard rumors of their past king, how he’d been unlawfully dethroned and how he now lived in a cave well outside the kingdom’s borders. He was supposedly still alive, along with his advisors who stayed loyal. Rumors of his death spread every so often, reportedly from the current king’s men as well.
It was also rumored that he and his advisors had interacted with humans.
“I’ll catch up,” she said, swimming ahead.
“Wait! What do you need to do?”
“Nothing you need to be there for.”
“Are you going to get in trouble?”
That made her pause, allowing him to catch up with her. Interaction with humans was forbidden, that was made clear from the start of panning this trip. But talking to the last king about humans? Who knows what that would bring for her.
“Yes.” But it’d be worth it. It wasn’t just for Yaoyorozo. Human culture was fascinating and she wanted to learn more.
Kaminari gave an overexaggerated sigh. “Alight, where are we going?”
She explained her plan to him and he clearly thought she was crazy, but he made no moves to leave her. She wouldn’t admit it out loud but having him here made her feel much better.
-=-=-
By the time they found the cave, sunlight had stopped shining down, forcing them to slow down to avoid rock formations that seemed to appear out of nowhere. When they saw soft yellow light shining from a nearby cave, they knew they had to be in the right place.
They silently swam to the entrance of the cave, only poking their heads in to take a peak. An emaciated man swam around the cave, with stringy blond hair floating behind him. He was surrounded by bottles of various shapes and sizes.
Jirou gripped the edge of the cave before pulling herself in with an aura of confidence she didn’t really feel.
“A-All-Might?” She called into the cave.
He turned, showing off gaunt features and sunken in cheeks, but the resemblance remained.
“What do you need?” he asked. He didn’t seem confused as to why she recognized him. Maybe more people knew of this cave than she realized.
“I… I need you to teach me the human’s language!”
A smile drew across his face. He turned to face the inside of the cave.
“Yamada, there’s someone to see you!”
Notes:
EDIT: I've started thinking and I've decided that this will be a multi-chapter fic! I'm gonna do my best to finish it, and I hope you all will enjoy the journey with me!
Talk MHA with me: kappa776.tumblr.com
Chapter 2: Second Chances
Summary:
Momo spends another day at the beach, just to take in the scenery. that's all.
It's not because she can't get a girl off her mind.
That would be ridiculous
Notes:
Thanks to much encouragement, this is now a multi-chapter fic! It's all planned out (for the most part,) will include secondary/background ships, and will have split POV! I'm really excited!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The water was choppier under a gray sky, making the water barely look blue. There were a couple of people surfing, black swim suits making them distinct from the overall gray atmosphere. A mother tried leading her kids on a walk, to keep them occupied and entertained for another long summer day.
It was a much different picture than when Momo came to the beach with her friends the other day.
She settled in her beach chair, the red plastic netting straining under the weight of her leaning back. It was still a pretty sight and it was still warm enough to warrant a day at the beach. She had a book in her hands and enough snacks to let her enjoy a peaceful day to herself. Her father had given the day off her internship, claiming today would be a slow day and he wouldn’t need his in-home office assistant.
“Enjoy yourself! We have the beach house for the whole summer, take advantage of it!”
She smiled as she cracked open her book. She intended to do just that.
-
It was not an hour in to the book did she realize she’d read the same five pages over and over again, absorbing nothing.
It’s the waves. They’re distracting me. Once I get into this book, it’ll all be white noise.
She stuck her nose back in the book, genuinely wanting to read. She wasn’t halfway down the page when something caught her eye, movement by the jetty.
Her head snapped up, eyes scanning the large black rocks for what she saw, but when a wave crashed against the same spot, her heart sank.
Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I said something weird and she’s never coming back because of me.
She shook her head. That was ridiculous.
She was just a girl. Probably a tourist who’s never going to come back.
She sighed, trying to let the acceptance sink in. The girl wasn’t coming back and Momo only came to the beach today to try and see her.
A cold wind breezed past, riffling her shirt. With that, her stomach dropped as she suddenly felt very out of place. She stuffed her book in her bag and stood up, about to fold up her chair, when something near the jetty caught her eye. Her brain told her not to, it was just another wave breaking against the rock, but her heart made her turn around.
The girl was laying on the rock, most of her body submerged in water.
Momo pretended that her heart was beating harder because she was running across sand, not because she finally saw her.
“Hey!” Momo said, unable to contain her smile. “What are you doing back here?”
The woman gave her a small smile. “I… uh, I’m still in the area.”
“That’s great! I’m glad we could see each other again.” She stepped on to the jetty, taking a moment to get her balance before slowly making the trek toward the girl.
She felt the girl’s eyes on her as she shifted and tested her weight on the odd-angled, board rocks. They were mostly flat, but the black, shiny surfaces also had rough edges, uneven and slippery surfaces, and the girl was practically at the very end of the jetty. Momo grit her teeth and hiking up her bag as she continued to the end. She perched herself on a rock to the right of the girl.
The girl put her head in her hands, the gesture more confident than her voice. “So, uh, what have you been up to?”
“Oh, not much.” She hadn’t expected she’d get this far. “What about you? Where are you from?”
“Oh, uuuuuh, just swimming. I am from, uh, far away.”
She had an indescribable accent, lilting and almost melodic.
Don’t be rude! Pay attention to what she’s saying!
“Oh, so you like traveling?”
“Yes, but I do not get to do it a lot.”
She couldn’t help but grin. “Oh, so I bet you’re taking advantage of this opportunity! So inspirational!”
The girl hesitated, eyes seeming a touch wider than normal. “I… yeah.”
Oh god, play it cool! Maybe she doesn’t like enthusiastic?
“So, uh, what do you like to do?”
“I like music and, uh-” Her eyes seemed to glaze over, momentarily entranced with something, before snapping out of it and focusing on her. “Shit, I- I have got to go.”
“Oh… okay!” It was hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
She pushed off the rock, eyes lingering on her for a moment, before she looked at the ocean, as if she was going to dive down.
“Will I see you again?”
Why did you just say that?!
The girl turned back. “I… yes, I’ll try.” A small smile drew on her face. “My, uh, my name is Jirou!”
Jirou.
“I hope to see you soon, Jirou!”
She nodded before diving into the water. Momo started out at the water for a moment too long, focusing on the blue-gray waves lapping at the shore. If she was being honest, it was weird for someone to swim al the way to the other side of the beach, but she wasn’t focused on that.
Jirou.
A sharp wind interrupted her thoughts.
She turned back to the beach, intent on making her way back at least a minute quicker. The wind made her skin prickle with cold and she wanted to get back home. She paused, turning to the opposite side of the jetty. She shook her head, laughing to herself as she made her way back.
She could’ve sworn she saw a blur of red by a sandbar, but that had to be the wind playing tricks. No boat would be that close to the shore or move that fast for her to not see it still nearby.
Notes:
small brain: Jirou is a disaster lesbian and Momo is a functional bisexual
big brain: Both are sapphic disasters, but Momo is also functional.Sorry this was so short, I haven't written multi-chapter fics in forever, so we'll see how it ends up. Hopefully not every chapter will be as short as this.
Talk MHA with me: kappa776.tumblr.com
Ayyylove on Chapter 1 Sat 26 May 2018 05:57AM UTC
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