i had job training and needed to write for some other fics, but i managed to make it back here.

Dear Christ this chapter is long. there's some naughtiness happening at the end. so there's ur warning.

I'm not sure how late I slept in, but the water is nice and bright when I sluggishly stir awake. I yawn and stretch my aching body, arching my stomach up towards the rock shelf above. I whimper as my bruises pull beneath my skin, making me want to rub and soothe them. I guess the rest has finally let my body start healing. As far as I know, I didn't break anything before or after the transformation, so I just have to deal with bruises and sore muscles. Well, that is still pretty bad, but I don't have the luxury to whine about it right now.

Well, I guess I should get going now. After eating my leftovers and relieving myself in a nearby crevice, I set out to see what's around. I don't think I need to eat anytime soon, so I'm going to explore and see if I can find a better place to sleep for tonight. I can try my hand at hunting again this afternoon, since it's not my top priority right now. I also just don't want to tire myself out on a fruitless task right now, not when I can eat things other than fish. At least until I get hunting figured out anyway. Speaking of figuring things out, what's that smell?

I look around, but don't see anything strange or out of place. Well, everything's strange, but still looks the same as yesterday. Maybe it's coming from something on the ground? I get closer to the rocks and plants and swim around, trying to find the source of that strange scent. Well, it's not a smell per se, more like a taste that coats my mouth and tongue. I think that's as close as smelling can get while underwater, which makes sense.

I finally manage to locate the source near a cluster of colourful plant like rocks(1), where the scent is much stronger. I don't know how to describe it, other than deep and musky. It kind of makes the scales on the underside of my tail feel tingly. It feels like I have an itch, but it's something I can ignore for now. I'm not sure I like feeling this way. I think I want to find somewhere to hide. I'll just avoid these rocks for now, I need to keep moving and find somewhere safe.

I quickly swim up towards the surface, trying to get away from the pungent smell. I'll also have a better view of my surroundings from up here. I look around, trying to see as far out as I can. Hmmm, mostly just rocks and plants with lots of fish swimming around. The fish are staying away from me though, probably because I'm a predator. Oh! What's that over there?

There's something large off in the distance northwest of me. Don't ask me how I know that, I just do for some reason. It doesn't look to be another cluster of rocks, since it looks smooth and curved. Brimming with curiosity, I start swimming towards it. I keep closer to the surface this time, since it's easier to keep the strange object in view from up here. After several minutes, I realize a couple things. One, it's a ship that I'm swimming towards. Two, it's sitting away from all the rocks that I've been swimming around, and surrounded by sand.

It may have sunk during a storm. The water here isn't that shallow, but a storm may make it shallow enough that a ship may run into or scrape against the rocks. How fast the ship sinks would depend on how big the hole is. Oh god, what if there are bodies in there? What would I do if there were? I guess that depends on how decomposed they are.

I pause for a moment, trying rid my mind of such thoughts. I don't need to think about that until such a scenario actually arises. I start swimming again, a bit slower this time, and soon get close to the keel of the ship. The hull has a large hole in it where the wood touches the sand. From all the algae and stuff clinging to the wood, this thing has likely been here for quite some time. It's not very large, probably some kind of fishing vessel. Ooh, that probably means there are nets and stuff inside! I could use those to help me catch fish, if I never figure out how to do it the mer way anyway.

I swim down towards the hole, curious to see if I can fit through it. There's probably a way in from the deck, but having multiple points of egress is always good. Makes it less likely that I'll get trapped inside that way. I'm not sure what predators live in the ocean other than mers, but I want to be prepared. Well, Shinsou and the other sailors had many stories of the different horrors that lurk in the deep, but I'm pretty sure they were just trying to scare me. Not that it's that difficult to scare me. The thought makes me grumble, why do people always pick on me?

Wait, do mers attack other mers? How should I act if I see one? Should I try talking first? Do they even have a language? Maybe they-no, stop. I have other things to worry about. Besides, I think I was thinking of this stuff before. Can't remember when though. I tug on my hair, trying to get back on track, and then start digging sand away from the hole. I need to make the opening bigger so I can fit through. For some reason, my hips are bigger than when I was human. No idea why, or for what purpose that particular change serves.

Once I manage to move enough sand out of the way, I carefully squeeze inside. There's some light filtering through some tinier holes in the hull, making the interior of the ship visible. There isn't much in here other than some crates, rope, and a large net. Wait, hang on. There's something wedged between one of the crates and the sandy bottom. I swim over and try to pull the crate away, but it's too heavy and won't budge. I pout at the large wooden object and then sigh. Well, I'm going to have to do muscle training sometime anyway. Just not now. I can just dig whatever it is out this time.

I sink my clawed fingers into the sand and carefully dig underneath the ob- oh god. Are those bones!? Oh god! Uh! What should I do? Um, I guess keep digging them out? I could probably give whoever this is a burial of some sort. Is it a bad thing that I just don't want to sleep in the same place as a corpse!? I shudder and continue digging, temporarily piling all of the bones I uncover outside.

Jeeze, how many bones does one person have anyway(2)? Well, I think I've found as much as I can for now. I'm amazed at how clean they are. I don't think it will be hard to, uh, bury these. Maybe I should put rocks over them, instead of digging around in the sand some more. That'll probably be easier. The webbing between my fingers also hurt from all the sand scraping across them. I'll have to be more careful with them in the future, since they're pretty sensitive.

Well, now that I've properly laid that person to rest, I can finally check out the rest of my new home. Then I really need to find some more food, I'm getting hungry again. For right now though, I'm setting up my new place to make it nice and cozy. I zip back into the ship and look around again. Hmm, I could just sleep on the sand, but really don't want to for some reason. Sure, it's gritty and all, but it's also pretty soft to lay on. Well, compared to grass and dirt anyway.

Hmm, where's the sail? I could drag that in here and ball it up into a bed. Yeah! I'll do that. Ooh, I could make a hammock with the fishing net and sail! I- I think I'm getting way to into this. But now that I'm thinking about it, nothing sounds better. I don't want to lay on the sand! I want a nice bed that's soft and maybe other things too! I sigh and head back out to look for the sail. I must be really homesick if I'm this wound up about sleeping arrangements.

I head around the ship towards the deck, hoping the mast is still attached to it. Or at least located close by. Hmm, it's snapped off, but I think I see it further out amongst the sand. I head over to the large object, all while looking out for stuff. You never know what you could find just lying around. The sail seems to still be tied up and secured to the mast, which supports the whole sinking in a storm idea.

This makes the work a bit easier, I just have to cut away some of the rigging to get it free. The difficult part will be dragging it back to the ship. Wait, how am I gonna get this in there? I shake my head violently and then start slicing the rope away with my claws. I'll worry about it when I get there.

I. Hurt. Everywhere! I didn't think dragging something would be so hard without legs! And don't even get me started on pushing. Why did I do strenuous work when I was already sore again?

It took me all day to get that sail in here. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I didn't even consider cutting it up into manageable pieces until after wrestling half of it through the hatch. To be honest though, I think I only came to that conclusion when the idea of a hammock no longer appealed to me.

I can't say it wasn't worth it though. I sigh contentedly, and nuzzle my face into my comfy new bed. Well, nest would be a more accurate word for what I ended up making. Once I had shredded a good bit of sail, I just started to arrange them together in an oval shape. I occasionally used some rope to keep the canvas in the general shape I wanted, until it was long enough to fit my entire length. Still wish I'd come to that solution earlier, I ended up running out of daylight when I finally got done.

I frown as my stomach twists and complains. Focusing on the task of making my new home more livable had managed to distract me from the hunger, but I guess it's finally time to find something to eat. Well, even if I can't catch any fish, I can always snack on some mussels. Hmm, I wonder if I can find anymore of those bugs.

Well, can't get anything to eat if I just lay here. I haul myself out of bed and swim back outside. I'll just go get some mussels and see what I find on the way, I don't feel up to wasting more of my energy on trying to catch fish. Good thing I have a good sense of direction, because it's pitch black due to the new moon. Starlight doesn't really penetrate the water unfortunately.

On the way to my only food source, I catch a whiff of that scent again. I scrunch my eyebrows and look around. That's strange, it's coming from a nearby patch of flowers. I frown as I notice my tail wiggling strangely and start tingling again. I still don't like this, I'll just quickly move on and avoid this area on the way back. I wonder what's causing the smell? I know it's not the flowers, and those rocks from before weren't there. Well, not the same kind anyway.

As I get closer to my destination, I hear the same cracking noises from last night. I smile and angle myself towards it, finding another cluster of mussels with some bugs helping themselves to their contents. Hmmm, I never saw any of those during the day. Do they only come out at night? The mussels seem to be their preferred food, since I haven't seen them anywhere else so far. If I leave the majority of them alone and swing by in the evening, then I may just have a stable source of food! I'll leave the mussels alone, then and use them as a sort of bait. They wouldn't be more than a snack anyway, no sense in eating them all at once when they can attract bigger things that I can eat.

I smile and swoop down, snatching two up before heading back home. I do my best to avoid that smell, but still catch whiffs of it on my way back. As a result, I arrive back home slightly agitated. I quickly devour my catch, hungry enough to finish them both this time. I then huff and plop back into bed, trying to ignore that tingly feeling that has become strangely persistent.

I roll over onto my back and close my eyes, absentmindedly rubbing my stomach. Hmmm, that feels nice. Maybe if I rub lower, the tingly feeling will go away. My hand slips lower, gliding over my scales until my fingers touch my slit. My eyes blink open in confusion, why am I touching there? I look down at myself, well, as well as I can in the gloom. Why am I touching there? I- I excrete from there! No, wait, I think that stuff came from further down.

Fish bodies are weird. I figured out going to the bathroom well enough, just find a spot and go. But that was just, uh, solid stuff. I'm not sure if mers pee, since I haven't needed to drink water yet, but I don't think any of that stuff came out this morning. Do- do I even have a penis anymore? How do I know what sex I am? I mean, I'm a man, I always have been. I just thought I would settle down and have kids eventually, you know? What if I can't do that in this form? How would I even do that kind of thing anyway? How do- oh wait, here it is.

It seems that it was hiding inside the top slit. Yeah, apparently I have two slits in my tail. The bottom one is where the, uh, stuff comes out, and the top one seems to be where my penis is. It's inside me though, how do I get it out? Wait, am I really going to do this right now? My fingers pause in their careful exploration, the pad of my index finger just on tip of my member.

I've always been taught, whether by my mother or the priest at church, that touching yourself is a sin. Any and all carnal acts must wait until married, to do otherwise is an affront to the Lord. I don't want to burn in Hell, but I'm not sure I even have a soul anymore(3). I mean, I'm not human, and only humans have souls. Right? I frown and look back down at my hands. Well, if I can't get into heaven anyway, then I'm going to see what all the fuss is about.

With that decided, I plunge my fingers all the way in. Oh god! That feels, oh. I moan as my member slides out into the open, I guess all it needed was some stimulation. It feels strange, I mean, it feels different than how it used to. It's smooth and slippery, wider at the base and slims out near the tip. My breath shudders as I start to stroke with one hand, while the other tightly grips the base.

My body starts to stretch out, the end of my tail thumping the bed with each shudder and stroke. I don't bother being quiet, since I haven't seen anyone else all day. I run my thumb over the tip, which causes my back to arch and a squeal to slip out of my mouth. It's still odd to hear clicks and whistles come out instead of words, even weirder when moans and grunts are replaced my squeaks and trills. Despite the strangeness of everything, I feel something building up in my belly.

I gasp when I give myself a vigorous tug, which trails off into a keening whine. I- I think I'm close. Not exactly sure what I'm close to, but I am. After a few more strokes and tugs, my body seizes up with a cry. After a moment, I relax and let go of myself, allowing my member to slip back into my body.

My whole body feels limp and slightly numb. I giggle and roll over, nuzzling my face into the fabric of my bed. That felt amazing! I feel all relaxed fuzzy now, which soon turns to drowsy. Mmmm, I don't feel like moving. I guess there's no harm in drifting off to sleep like this, is there?

(1) it's coral. i'm not very good at descriptions when i don't care about something.
(2) 206 apparently. neat
(3) I'm not religious, but izuku is christian because of where and when he lives in the story

did you know that salt water fish "drink"? neither did i. well, they absorb it through osmosis, but they pee and everything! i think abt these things ok!? stop judging me!

personally, i would've found out where my sex organs were WAY earlier. a girl has NEEDS people!

Who wants to guess what's going on next chappie? leave it down in the comments!