Ohhhh, wow-
To be honest, I didn't think I was ever going to post on this account here again, but here we are. I don't even have excuses as to why I haven't updated my other works, so I won't even try, but if you're still subscribed to any of my In Progress works on FFN, just know that I am planning to HEAVILY edit my works and re-upload them on AO3. I've already put a few of my older works there, along with quite a few of my newer works. Don't worry! I will still update them on FFN as well, because so many of you have been waiting forever for updates.
I can't promise an kind of time line for them, however. I'll need to edit a lot (like, a lot, Jesus I was cringe-y) and since I'm a mom/wife now, it's tougher for me to get updates or new works out on a strict schedule. I apologize for all the trouble, and this super lengthy A/N, but for those of you who have waited this long without hearing anything from me: Thank you for believing I would come back. Your messages, reviews, and unwavering belief that one day I would finish those stories kept me going.
Thank you.
And to anyone new reading this, hello! I'm glad you've chosen this story to read!
Without further delay, please enjoy!
No, You're Not
When it all went down, Kirishima swears he thought he was the only one even awake.
It had been a long, hot night with no AC, and by two am, Kirishima couldn't handle it anymore. He had reported it to Aizawa-Sensei when he noticed it that evening, but the teacher was unable to contact maintenance. The teen would have to wait until morning.
Kirishima had opened his windows, slept in just his boxers, and turned his desk fan on full blast. But, there was no breeze, just more humidity, and Kirishima cracked. He was covered in sweat, his bed sheets sticking to his skin, and he swore he could feel his brain oozing out of his ear.
"Fuck this." The redhead sat up and ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair before standing and moving and the room.
Kirishima grabbed a towel and a clean pair of boxer briefs before moving to the door. After a moment's hesitation, he slipped a pair of basketball shorts on over his sticky thighs and left the room. His initial goal was the boys showers, but as glanced out the window, he changed his course.
The pool gate had been unlocked just days earlier, for days off only, but no one had had the time to use it yet. The cold,chlorinated water looked like heaven to Kirishima's overheated body. With a grin, Kirishima chucked his clothes and towel into a poolside chair and quickly stepped out of his shorts.
He inhaled deeply before diving into the body of water. He brought his hands together above his head and kicked his powerful legs, sending him through the water and to the other end of the pool in seconds.
Kirishima broke the surface with a gasp and bright smile as he pushed the water off his face. The water was perfect. As he leaned his back against the tiled wall and stared at the night sky, Kirishima simply relaxed. Becoming a second year student brought even more struggles. He thought first year had been tough, but it didn't even compare.
Kirishima closed his eyes and just breathed for a moment.
His skin was beginning to feel tight. Wrong. His body still too hot. With a sigh, Kirishima looked around the empty area. The pool was illuminated from inside, there were a few street lamps on, but it was still pretty shadowy on the far end of the pool. No one was even awake right now. He could make the change, swim a few laps, and be back to normal in his dorm before anyone even knew.
With a toothy smile, Kirishima pulled his briefs off and dropped them onto the pavement with a wet smack.
Kirishima ducked underwater and allowed the change to come over him. It was weird, and definitely a little bit painful, but Kirishima had been going back and forth his whole life. He had it down to a science.
First came the gills.
He rubbed gently at his neck to help open them up and prepare the oxygen for the rest of his body.
The claws came afterwards, followed by a path of scales and two small fins up his forearms.
The tail usually happened around the same time; his legs simply morphing together and becoming a beautiful scarlet to blood red gradient of scales. That was the part that usually stung a bit.
Kirishima swished his tail around, trying to work out the pain, before turning and swimming away.
He hadn't had time to change and just be in this form in a long time. You couldn't exactly flop your tail out while hanging with your friends. And he's pretty sure someone would notice in the showers, even if there was the unspoken agreement to not peep into anyone's stalls.
Kirishima broke the surface and wiped the water from his eyes.
"About fucking time you came up. I thought your shitty ass had drowned." Kirishima skwaked loudly before sinking down into the pool, water covering his gills, and turned to the source of the voice the would recognize anywhere.
"Bakugou?! What are you doing out here?!" Kirishima's eyes were wide, his heart racing. Had he seen? How long had the other teen been there?
Bakugou lounged on a beach chair, clothed in sweat pants and a tight black tank top.
"I'm here to keep your stupid ass from drowning. Hasn't anyone ever told you not to swim alone, at night?" he frowned deeply.
Kirishima forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Y-yeah, but I thought that applied to large bodies of water?" Kirishima had never been told not to swim at night alone. His family was half Mer. Night time was prime swimming time! Bakugou rolled his eyes and settled back into the lounger, arms folded over his chest and eyes closed.
"Whatever. Wake me up when you're done." Bakugou grumbled. Kirishima watched him for a moment from the shadows before diving under and silently freaking out.
'Oh my God. I can't get out of the pool like this. I can't shift back unless I'm out of the water. Bakubro you have the worst timing.'
Kirishima swam around in the shadowed half of the pool for a while, making sure to pop his head out for a breath of air every minute or so; he had to pretend to need the air, after all.
After about twenty minutes of making small circles underwater and nervously watching Bakugou, Kirishima was startled by a splash not far from him. He quickly broke the surface and saw Bakugou sitting at the edge of the pool, pants rolled up to his knees and feet swishing in the water.
"Oi, Shitty Hair. You ready to go in yet? You're gonna flunk the exam in the morning if you don't get some fucking sleep." Kirishima backed up a few paces and forced a smile.
"Nah, I think I'm gonna swim for a while more. The water feels great!" Truthfully, he had been ready to go inside for a while now. The cool water was lulling him into a sleepy state and he knew if he wasn't careful he would doze off in the pool. He slept in the ocean when he visited his grandparents, so a pool wouldn't be much different. But, he really didn't need someone thinking he had drowned and pulling his half-fish body out of the water.
Sure, Merpeople weren't unheard-of, but they were still very rare and sometimes treated poorly or even experimented on because of their elusiveness. Most Mers had adapted to either completely living on land or never leaving the ocean to avoid risking their lives, or even the lives of their pod.
Kirishima was 98% sure that Bakugou wouldn't kidnap, dissect, or try to sell him, but his parents told him to be wise about who he trusted with the secret. Should he really be telling Bakugou..?
Bakugou frowned and squinted at the other boy.
"The fuck happened to your neck?" Kirishima hurriedly slapped his hands over his gills and ducked further into the water.
"Nothing!" Katsuki frowned deeply.
"Are you swimming in fucking chlorinated water with open wounds, you Dipshit? Do you want an infection? Because that's how you get a fucking infection. Get out. Right now. Don't shake your head at me, I will fucking come in there!" Bakugou whipped his shirt off and threw it towards the chairs before glaring down at the wide eyed teen.
"No, no! Don't! I'm fine! They're not wounds, I promise!" Kirishima's heart was racing. He was about to be found out one way or another, so he might as well do things the easy way.
"They're gills."
Bakugou scoffed and pulled his feet from the water.
"You know what? Fuck you. If you don't want me to know, fucking say so. Don't fucking lie to me; especially with some bullshit like gills." Bakugou pushed to his feet and started towards his shirt.
"You know what, fuck this. Fuck you. Drown for all I care. I'm not wasting anymore sleep for you." Kirishima stunned silent. Bakugou was leaving, but he was leaving under the assumption that Kirishima was a liar. And Kirishima might have been a lot of things, but a liar was not one of them.
"It's not a lie!" Bakugou paused, shirt in hand, "They really are gills!" Kirishima swam closer, still just inside the shadows and paused again, nerves getting the better of him. Bakugou frowned and pulled his shirt on once more.
"Sure. They're gills. While we're at it, Deku has a pair of glass slippers to match his fucking fairy tail life, and I'm French royalty. Go suck a dick, Shitty Hair." Kirishima frowned, his temper beginning to flare, and swam to the edge of the pool. Bakugou was facing away as he gathered his phone and keys off the small table.
"I'm a Merman."
Bakugou rolled his eyes, though Kirishima couldn't tell, and scoffed once more.
"No, you're fucking not."
A loud splash and the sound of water dripping had Bakugou turning his head and then immediately dropping his phone. Kirishima had pulled his body out of the water and sat at the edge of the pool, tail lazily drifting in the water.
Bakugou stared at the tail completely wide eyed for a moment before dropping heavily into the lounge chair.
"You fucking are not. What the hell. What the hell, Hair for Brains? Your Quirk is getting hard, isn't it?! Do you have two Quirks, you shitty-" Kirishima hissed.
"Shhhh! Bro! Too loud!" Bakugou clenched his jaw, eyes still on the glittering scales. When a silent moment passed and Kirishima was sure no one had found them out, he released a breath.
"Okay, first, it's 'hardening'. Not 'getting hard'. That would be a really weird Quirk." Bakugou took his eyes of the tall to glare at the other teen, "Secondly, it's not a Quirk. It's just like… DNA? My grandparents on my mom's side are Mer. I mean, really, my mom's entire family is Mer, but." Kirishima shrugged, the nervousness about telling someone washed away with the smugness he felt.
The pool was silent. Bakugou watched the other boy, and the tail, and Kirishima watched him back. His gills were nearly dry now, so any minute, his tail would start separating. He cleared his throat and Bakugou's eyes flicked to his.
"It's, uh… gonna change soon. You might not want to watch. It's kinda creepy." Kirishima avoided Bakugou's gaze as he felt the tell tale tingling and prickling sensation down his legs. After a short pause, the other boy stood from the chair and walked slowly to the other end of the pool. Kirishima sighed in relief as he watched his scales slowly meld into his skin and the skin down the center began to separate.
He learned as a child to stay still while the change was happening or you risk tearing your legs up. He had been in a hurry to run after his cousin and yanked his legs apart when there was just a thin film of skin still connecting them and blood had immediately gushed. The pain was horrifying bur Kirishima got away with only four stitches to each calf.
When the film released and Kirishima had two definitive legs, he pointed his toes and wiggled his feet a bit. A pair of cold, soaking wet boxer briefs slapped between his shoulder blades and he screeched. Bakugou grinned above him.
"Let's go, Shitty Hair. Don't have all night." Kirishima pouted as he collected his wet clothes and stood. He immediately began to wobble and Bakugou reached out to steady him.
"You good?" Kirishima nodded and carefully let go of Bakugou's arms to pull on his fresh underwear and shorts.
"Yeah, sorry. It takes a minute sometimes for all the feeling to come back." Bakugou hummed his acknowledgement and the two of them walked silently back to the dorm. In the elevator, Kirishima couldn't hold back anymore.
"So!" Bakugou flinched at the sudden volume change, "You're um." Kirishima paused. "You won't tell anyone about this, right?" He met Bakugou's eyes. The blond blinked.
"About what." Kirishima frowned in confusion. He tilted his head.
"About… about the last thirty minutes or so..?" Bakugou rolled his eyes.
"Take a hint, Shithead." He bumped his fist against Kirishima's chest before stepping out of the elevator, "I've been in bed all night. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."
Kirishima followed his friend with a bright smile. Of course Bakugou wouldn't sell him out. They were Bros!
"Right! Well, good night, Bakugou!" The blond grunted before closing his door. Kirishima couldn't stop smiling as he flopped into his own bed, wet underwear draped on the back of his desk chair. In the time he had been out, the room had cooled down some, or maybe it was just him.
Either way, Kirishima was out in a matter of minutes. It felt like a weight that he didn't know he was carrying had been lifted off his shoulders. Kirishima felt like he could take on anything in the morning. Even a math test.