Chapter Text
When Izuku looks back on it, maybe running away from the entire continent after the death of a loved one might've been overkill. It was generally not a good sign of coping with death or destined to a path toward proper healing. But Izuku lost his friends, the one family member he had left, as well as the long love of his life. A little display of dramatics was allowed, he figured.
It was a rushed decision he hadn't given much thought to and had all the signs of a Bad Idea. He had just been leaving the house of his last loved one to die, it had been raining, and that morning's paper reported a recent shipwreck. Izuku was typically a superstitious man aware of omens and threw spilt salt over his shoulder for luck, but his judgment had been clouded and his mind was hazy. All he wanted was to get out, leave, and run away from the pain his heart held.
So he bought his ticket and with the bag he had already packed for a night at his old mentor's house, he boarded the S.S. Mariposa and left his childhood home for something unknown.
His transition from sleeping to waking was a slow drag to consciousness. He heard the lapping waves first, the calm rolling gave him peace even as he left the unexpected, warm sand beneath his fingers. Groggily, he pushed himself up, digging the heels of his hands deeper into the sand and started down. The beach. He hated the beach. It was too hot and the sand would stay in his shoes and hair for days. The only thing that made going to the beach worth it was Uraraka and his mother's enjoyment.
"Uraraka," he started, eyes closing as he rubbed the sand off his face and turned to sit upright. "Did you take my towel again? I told you-" His voice caught. A memory came back to him, the force of it hitting him like a punch to the gut.
"At least you'll be safe from sand now, huh? You'll have no reason to go back there."
"As if we could bear to see it without you."
"Ichigo, you're too charming, even for a corpse."
Izuku's eyes flew open as grief made its presence known in his heart. He had forgotten - forgotten, how could he? their graves were still fresh and already it slipped his mind. What kind of monster was he? - there's no reason to ever go to the beach again. Uraraka, sweet, bubbly Uraraka, wasn't here anymore to force him to go.
If he closed his eyes he could see her. Her big doe eyes wide and pleading, her mouth pouting in the way that only she could pull off. He could feel her hands squeezing his. They weren't soft, rough with years of hard work and labor, but warm and kind. Tenya would be behind her, looking embarrassed at her antics but loving her so much that he didn't stop her. Years of growing up wrapped around her finger did that, after all. And Ichigo-
And Ichigo. Ichigo.
Izuku let out a quiet sob and curled in on himself. He remembered the last fleeting moments before his friends' parting moments; all terrible and thick with death. Tenya's sweet few words to his beloved Uraraka before he passed. Uraraka's big, cold hands holding Izuku's and whispering all her secret last wishes and thoughts. She had asked him what she wanted him to say to anyone on the other side. His mother's body laid on the floor, still and silent, a sponge still clutched in her hands. He hadn't even known she was sick. She worked herself to death.
And Ichigo. He had-
He quickly blocked that out. Thinking of him, his death - it wasn't good for him. He couldn't go back there, not now.
But then, he boarded the ship. He ran away. Two weeks into the voyage, a bad storm crept upon them like a viper. It came with a ferocity he had never seen before. Violent winds and waves were so big that they dwarfed mountains. THe saw the wind carry grown men off the boat, up and up until they disappeared. The waves slammed against them, bullying them to topple and break. Izuku could remember making it to a life raft before his memory cut out.
"How am I not dead?" Izuku breathed, hands running over himself and pulling at his hair. It hurt, so he must be alive? He didn't think there was pain in the afterlife. A cruel trick for a god to play, but, if he looked at the recent events of his life, believable.
"That would be my doing, ribbit."
Izuku felt his soul leap from his body. His head snapped over to find a girl sitting in the tide, watching him with large, inquisitive eyes.
Her head titled up. She shone with pride as she said, "I found you and brought you here. I'm glad I made it in time to ensure your life."
Izuku was at a loss for words. His brain eventually settled on, "Oh, um, thank you very much," but even that felt unsatisfying. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes.
His gaze eventually left her to look back at his surroundings. He looked for homes, or maybe even a lighthouse. There was a beach he was on - which, now that he was paying closer attention, was more like a cove- was surrounded by a thick forest unlike any he had seen before and large cliffs raised at the cove's mouth. The more he searched for any hint of civilization the higher his anxiety raised.
"Where am I?" he asked, looking back at his savior. She seemed to be waiting for this question.
"This is the Everstone Cove, but most people don't call it that anymore." She put a finger to her chin and tilted her head, looking contemplative. "but it's not very safe to call it that anymore, so I suppose you really shouldn't. It's sometimes called Cooler Cove, but my school and I tend to call it Home Beach."
"Oh, no, I meant - I mean, what country am I in? Arestasia? Niho? Viryana?"
"This isn't a country, ribbit. This is The Island."
"Which island?"
She shrugged. "If it had a name, it's been long forgotten." As an afterthought, she added, "I never told you my name. I'm Tsuyu, by the way."
"Izuku Midoriya," he responded automatically, conditioned by polite social norms. His eyebrows knitted as he thought on her words, trying to make sense of them. It was vague and, in all honesty, unhelpful. There was too much missing information for him to try to grasp anything from it.
"Where's the mainland?" he tried.
"There isn't any land near here for.... well, I've never seen it, and I've lived in this ocean all my life."
Izuku really shouldn't panic about this. He had joined the voyage to go to an entirely different continent weeks ago, this was hardly any different. He was still convicted in his decision, though small regrets bit at his heart. But the thought of being stranded had his stomach churning with anxiety.
A perfectly good thing to panic about, however, was when he saw something peak up from the water behind Tsuyu and splash back down. He stared, focusing on it as it lazily came up again, and then dragged his eyes from it to Tsuyu.
No.
Carefully he asked, "How did you find me after the wreck?"
"I was swimming near when I heard it go down. I went to check and I saw your big boat topple. You were the closest one to me, and the only one I could grab quickly enough. I'm sorry about the others that were on board."
Swimming.
No.
"How did I not drown?"
She winked and placed a finger to her mouth. "Mermaids kiss," Her voice was flat and deadpanned, totally mismatching the cuteness of the action.
No.
"Nope!" Izuku stood suddenly. "That's not- no!" He stared at her, having a better angle to see the movement of her tail through the crystal clear waters. Her tail. He pointed at it. "That's impossible!"
He said it with such conviction that even Tsuyu looked back at her tail, concerned that there had been something wrong. Izuku then paced on the sand in front of her, launching himself immediately into a tirade of how impossible this all was.
"Mermaids are mythical creatures that sailors mistook dolphins or manatees for after months of isolation on ships. It was an excuse more than anything to have relations with something that had genitals that closely mimicked a human's vagina-"
"Really? That's such a lame excuse for interspecies mingling," Tsuyu commented, stoically watching him. He didn't take notice of her comment and continued like she said nothing.
"Or at least, that's what Mom told me so maybe that part's not right. Point is - it's not real! It's impossible, plus they wouldn't look part human. Part mammal, maybe, but definitely not human.more like a monkey? Or, closer to a dolphin or orcas - which already exist so why would they even look human? Human skin isn't right for aquatic life and there's no reason they'd have long hair like humans do?-"
"I've wondered about that a lot. It's a bit of a pain, but I like having it so long. It's pretty. When I was a tadpole, my mom said it was a blessing from a beauty goddess, so it wouldn't have a negative effect on us, ribbit."
"-It should just drag and slow them down. Mermaids are purely fictional and more aesthetic than anything. Why would mermaids have human breats in the first place?-"
"I've found they're for fun, mostly."
"-That would also drag - oh my gods, Tsuyu has been naked this whole time and I didn't notice?! How did I -also not important because I'm clearly still hallucinating."
As Izuku continued, going now to talk about concussions and the types of a hallucination it causes as well as other ailments, Tsuyu's attention was drawn away from him to look behind her.
Breaking the water's surface in a rather flashy jump, one of her schoolmates swam to the shore and approached her. It was Yuga Aoyama, a vain son of a lightning and water spirits who liked putting his nose in other people's business. He smoothly slid beside her and positioned himself in a striking pose, preening for attention like he has seen tropical avians do. Tsuyu almost broke her demeanor to roll her eyes.
"Hello, Yuga."
"Hello, Tsuyu. What are you doing so close to the sand?"
"Guppysitting."
"Guppies? But they're not allowed so close to the shore."
Tsuyu gestured towards the shore. "This is my guppy." There was a hint of mischief to her voice. She loved to tease Yuga, as he was the easiest to take off guard and the most dramatic of anyone she had met.
"What?" He scoffed at that. "You've never even participated in mating season, let alone-" he turned and spotted Izuku, still muttered and pacing erratically in the sand. Yuga stiffened at him, staring wide-eyed and gaping before shrieking.
Izuku froze to a halt and looked back to Tsuyu, who was now accompanied by someone else. He was pointing at Izuku in terror, eyes wide as saucers and still screeching. He stopped when Tsuyu finally nudged him hard enough to knock him off balance into the water. He choked on the sudden intake of water and struggling to get up again. He got up eventually, eyes still on Izuku, but at least he wasn't screeching.
"Tsuyu, why is there a human here?!" His voice was raised high and cracked. Izuku wanted to laugh.
"I found him in a shipwreck." Tsuyu said calmly. She sounded like she was speaking to a child about something mundane and simple, like why the park was too wet to play in after heavy rain.
He made a strained, garbled sound at the back of his throat. "You're not supposed to bring humans here! ' No man should ever step foot on this island again, should the god's wrath be carried .' You know, the rules we've been told our entire life. "
"And yet there he is, on our land, and the day is still sunny." She gestured to the sky and rolled her eyes.
He floundered a bit more before trying to gather his tone into something more solid and commanding. "I'm not playing around. Tsuyu-"
"Yuga." She cut him off. Her voice was stronger, a seriousness in it that had even Izuku wilting.
Yuga was suddenly quiet, finally looking away from Izuku to stare at Tsuyu. He moved closer to her and spoke softer, so soft that Izuku couldn't make it out anymore. He shuffled, his hands moving behind him to wring nervously. He watched on, trying to eavesdrop to help his growing confusion. He gave up eventually and looked at their tails. His head tilted, eyes narrowed, and Izuku wondered.
Tsuyu's tail was unlike any of the drawings he had seen in his old fairy tale books. It a lovely green with flecks of black scales scattered about it, and though it was thick around her hips where human-like skin gave way into a fish's body, it slowly tapered until it got thin around the start of her fin, but flared off into a thick, long fin. It looked like a tuna, rather than the simple beta-like illustrations he was used to. She had the tail of a game fish and was clearly built for strength and speed.
Yuga's was more familiar, though far more exotic than the illustrations. It was a kaleidoscope of white, pale blue, and silver scales that sparkled beautifully in the sun. It wasn't as long as Tsuyu's but the fins were spread large and thin, like a beta's. It was flashy, and Izuku wondered how he wasn't dead yet. Surely preditors could see him for miles and his fins made him slow. He had to be easy pickings.
As he examined them, a nasty thought settled at the back of his head. This was all a little too detailed for a hallucination or a dream, but as a person, Izuku himself was obsessed with details. Would it be so far out of the realm of reasoning that his hallucinations shouldn't reflect that?
The logical part of him, nurtured by his former mentor, said that yes, it was. He couldn't dream of something like this. But Izuku didn't think it would help his sanity much if he didn't at least try to convince himself of this smaller impossibility.
Finally, Yuga spoke louder, breaking Izuku from his thoughts.
"You're going to have to tell the Elders. They're not gonna like this."
Tsuyu shrugged but didn't look like she could really be bothered. "I could."
"No, no." He pointed at her like he was scolded a puppy. "There's no way you could keep a human secret. After telling the Elders, you're going to have to explain this to the entire council. They're going to hate this."
"Yes."
"And-" his voice pitched up, taking on a hysterical pitch, "And - oh ho ho- the Naga's Alpha is going to lose. His. Shit."
"I can handle his tantrums."
"Tsuyu," Yuga tried again, voice shifting hard again as if he was trying to give her sense through his words. "The council could have you banished. That Naga alpha is definitely gonna push for your execution. You could die for saving this human and keeping him alive. They're probably going to vote to have him executed."
"Excuse me?" Izuku's voice pitched higher than it should have.
Tsuyu waved him off. "Don't worry, Izukun, they won't do that."
Yuga made a noise that struggled for a definition while Izuku mouthed 'Izukun' with confusion.
Shaking his head, he finally cut in between the two mermaids. "Why wouldn't they do that?"
She didn't answer right away. She looked around, eyes narrowing as if looking for someone eavesdropping. Finally, she shook her head.
"I can't tell you. Just trust me, they wouldn't. But I wanna keep Izukun secret for a little while longer, ok Yuga?"
He looked conflicted. He looked from Tsuyu to Izuku, to Tsuyu again, then to the sea and back at Tsuyu again. He sighed something heavy before jerking his body into a dainty pose.
"Well, if my dear damsel Tsuyu is in distress then I have no choice but to help her out. Have no fear, my lady, my gentlemen! I will tell nary a soul about our poor, weak little human and keep him safe from the perils of the marvelous island and sea we call home."
As ridiculous as the declaration was - Izuku was sure it was a bad sign if he was already screaming the secret out - she seemed to relax from the display. AShe smiled sweetly and looked at Izuku. He wanted to complain about being called weak but just huffed instead.
"Go poke around the forest's edge and look for dry wood. You want to be ready for the night when it comes. I'm gonna go catch some fish for you to eat, so I'll be gone for a while." She held up her finger. "If we are going to keep you secret and safe, there are going to be some guidelines. Do you understand?"
She waited for him to nod before continuing. "One; don't go into the forest. I can't save you if something sees you and thinks you look tasty. Nothing from the forest comes close to here, so you're safe on our beach. Two; There will be times I need you to hide. When I tell you to, go between those two large rocks over there. It will keep you out of sight. Three, if you're thirsty, tell me. I will bring you to freshwater when I'm sure no one is around it."
Izuku nodded. Those were acceptable terms.
"I know there are probably things you want to talk about, but that can wait for later. Right now, it's about survival, ribbit." Her words had sincere compassion in them that made Izuku's heart ache.
"Th-thank you, Tsuyu." He tried to keep the tears prickling in his eyes at bay.
"Please, my friends call me Tsu."
"Tsu? You never let me call you Tsu," Yuga complained, looking stuck. She ignored that.
"Yuga, watch Izuku and keep an eye out for other schoolmates. I counting on you." With that, Tsuyu turned and made her way to the sea, Yuga yelling at her about guppysitting and not being asked as she swam away.
Izuku let out a huff of amused laughter before turning and looking at the looming forest behind him. He stared into it for a few moments, eyes frantically searching the darkness and ears straining to hear anything out of the ordinary.
"I can't save you if something sees you and thinks you look tasty enough."
Izuku gulped, anxiety eating at his skin as he slowly approached the edge and looked for acceptable firewood. Halfway through gathering an armful of sticks and rocks of various sizes, Izuku halted his hunt and stared down at his findings.
The storm last night was strong enough to topple a cargo ship and decimate any would-be survivors. But the sticks he came across were bone dry. There wasn't any evidence around here of a terrible storm. He didn't find any debris. Everything in the cove and around the island looked untouched. It was... peaceful.
Just how far away was he?