The days continued to pass by, and honestly you couldn't remember the last time you were this content with everyday events. Your daily meetings with Bakugou were always something to look forward to, the expectation of learning more about him or just enjoying his company placing an unconscious smile on your lips.

As you sat on the pier, Bakugou laying next to you with arms folded behind his head, the distant sound of rolling thunder caught your attention.

"Shit…looks like it's gonna rain soon," you mumbled, turning your head towards the darkening horizon as grey clouds shifted slowly above the water far in the distance.

"Rain…" Bakugou mimed. "Sky water?" You chuckled at his simple yet accurate description. "You don't like it?"

"I like the rain. The sound is nice and comforting, and the smell after it rains is always refreshing. I feel like I always sleep better when it rains…but I don't want to get wet. Unlike you, I don't live in the water."

The merman sat up, stretching his arms above his head; he had the body of an Olympic swimmer, lithe and lean and overwhelmingly muscular. You kept your eyes trained in the opposite direction towards the incoming storm clouds so he wouldn't catch you staring.

"Do you swim?" he asked, voice less than a foot away from your ear. "Other humans swim…but you don't." A webbed finger poked the hollow of your cheek to pull your attention back towards him. If there was one thing you learned about Bakugou so far, he enjoyed being the center of attention…at least when it came to you. You'd never seen any other merpeople, so he might be completely different around his own kind; however, considering your current awareness of his background and why he's currently alone, the topic of "home" was one you consciously avoided.

"Hah…uh…" You averted eye contact as you slapped his hand away, pulling him by the fingers down to the damp wood. He let you without objection, not taking his hand away from yours. "I don't…know how?" The words came out in a squeak.

A flabbergasted look immediately appeared on his face before he lurched forward, his eyes glued to yours. "You can't swim?!"

You mentally cursed, hoping he didn't think less of you for being untrained in something that came so naturally to him. "…No?"

Bakugou scoffed, folding his arms across his chest before smirking confidently at you. "I can teach." Holding up your hands defensively, you shook your head, nerves building in your stomach.

"Uh, no that's OK! At least not today…maybe some other time…" you muttered. Bakugou's expression fell into borderline annoyance.

"Tch…fine." Arms still crossed his ruby eyes shifted away from you out towards the darkening horizon, the occasional flash of lightning highlighting the shift of waves against ocean winds.

"What's that look for? I didn't say 'no.' Just…not today."

He took a minute to reply, but when he did, his eyes remained on the sea. "You give me food, teach words…" Jaw clenched tightly and brows furrowed, he ground out his next words like rough sandpaper. "I give you nothing."

His response caught you off-guard, honestly. He seemed to feel agitated that you spent time with him and gave him things of your own free will, while he did all of the take and none of the give. Maybe he felt like a charity case, offering no exchange of goods for what you provided. While he did love being spoiled with fish and new information, Bakugou wanted things to feel more equal; this realization made you smile.

"That's not true, though," you replied, playfully flicking him on the nose, hand retreating before he could swat it away. "You give me your company, your attention-" pausing, you felt a single drop of water on your cheek. The rain was coming. "I don't need a lot, so don't feel bad." Another drop, and another. "Shit, I better go." As you stood up to gather your things Bakugou turned to look at you, unfazed by the incoming storm. "If it's not raining I'll be back tomorrow."

He opened his mouth to speak but you quickly gave him a pat on the head, ruffling his hair affectionately as the rain pelted the pier, leaving dark brown spots. The growl in his throat faded away as Bakugou watched you jog down the pier towards your home before he slid off the pier and into the water, disappearing quickly under a blanket of dark blues and greens, the beginnings of an idea forming in his head as he swam.

The next day started like any other as you arrived at work, slogging through paperwork and answering questions everyone on your team should already know the answer to. It felt particularly slow, so you were excited to head back to the beach that evening and spend time with the one individual that managed to continually brighten your days.

Though the air was crisp with the smell of rain from the previous day as you walked from your apartment down the street towards the pier, the sun dipped low across the ocean, sky clear of dark clouds or looming thunder.

You dangled your feet over the edge of the pier, grabbing a bag of snacks from your bag. Despite loving seafood, you needed a break from the constant bombardment of fish since you usually grabbed two orders of whatever you brought for Bakugou that day.

Half an hour passed by, and you were still alone.

The consistency of his appearances lulled you into a routine, a sense of expectation bubbling at the back of your mind as you sat on the salt-stained wood. He always showed up, so you waited.

After nearly two hours of scanning the endless sea, hands fidgeting in your lap, you resigned that he wasn't coming. A worrying feeling in your gut made you anxious, but you pushed through it, gathering up your things and heading home, your shadow bouncing off the pavement from overhead street lamps buzzing like white noise.

Stepping through your front door and tossing off your shoes the couch looked particularly inviting in that moment as you eased yourself onto the cushions with a groan. Soft kitty paws made their way onto your stomach, kneading biscuits into your shirt.

"Mmm…I wonder where he is," you questioned out loud. "He always shows up…I hope…oh no-" A terrifying idea struck you as you sat upright, your cat flopping to the ground with an annoyed 'meow.' Grabbing your laptop from the side table you opened it quickly and typed out a string of keywords, scanning the search results of the past twenty-four hours for anything suspicious.

"Mermaids…merman…merpeople," you muttered, trying different words and combinations. "Mysterious, fish-man, creature…ugh, shit. Nothing." You breathed out a sigh of relief; the results were just as empty compared to when you first met Bakugou, at first unconvinced of the reality of the existence of merpeople. "So it seems like he's kept himself hidden…or if he was caught it hasn't hit the news yet. He's smart, and it's just one day, I'm sure everything's fine. I can ask him tomorrow where he swam off to."

Tomorrow came, and again you were alone, the second container of extra spicy sushi unopened.

You walked home in a daze, eyes unfocused as you moved along the same familiar sidewalk towards your apartment. He'd been absent for two days, though it honestly felt much longer as time passed slowly like a train struggling against rails covered in snow and ice, sluggish and heavy.

Once safely inside your apartment, you set the untouched sushi in your fridge before slumping against the closed door, sliding down to the cold kitchen tiles, forearms like lead on your knees, head hung low as your throat closed tightly and your lips pursed together in a tight line.

"What if he doesn't come back?" your voice a whisper in the quiet apartment, eyelashes damp and vision blurry. Before you lost hold of yourself, you cleared your throat and stood up from the kitchen floor before slumping into the couch and turning on the TV, wanting a mindless distraction for a while.

"I'm being dumb…he wouldn't just leave without at least saying 'goodbye' right?" you asked to no one, though the purring cat in your lap meowed as if in response. "See? I am right. He liked the big cats in the animal book, I wonder what he'd think of you…? Not like I can bring him here, my bathtub is a pathetic substitute for the ocean, it'd feel like a prison, probably. He doesn't like artificial light anyway." The buzz of the TV in the background was nothing more than static as you talked to yourself in an attempt to stay positive and not dwell on upsetting possibilities.

The water below the pier remained empty the next day, and the day after that, each passing sunset mocking you, reflecting the colors of his hair, his eyes, his tail like an unreachable imitation. You tossed away the stale sushi in a nearby trash can.

Sitting up in the cool sheets of your bed, you continued to check local news sites for keywords and bizarre articles, but they continued yielding useless results. Your head hit the pillow, flat from years of use, but you couldn't fall asleep with so many unanswered questions running through your mind.

"Did I do something wrong?" you asked to the darkness of your bedroom, knowing no one would answer back. "Did I say something to offend him, finally? What…why am I so torn up over this? What does he mean to me?"

The question hung in the air like fog - an answer just beyond your reach - obscured by your own insecurities and unwillingness to admit harsh truths. What did he mean to you?

Drifting off to sleep in the loneliness of your bedroom, you dreamed of darkness, expansive and endless and suffocating, a black hole sucking in every trace of light that slipped through your grasping fingers as easily as water. A single speck of red - miniscule, flickering, nearly overpowered by encroaching obscurity - sat in the middle of the void far out of reach. Floating freely through a slog of smallness, tethered to nothing but your own sense of isolation, no one grasped your hand.

Everything felt dim, desaturated, and sluggish as you made it to work. Apparently the weight of unanswered questions and resurfacing insecurities was obvious even to your normally oblivious coworkers as they prodded you with intrusive questions which you brushed off, showering them with the familiar mask of smiles and fake laughter. The routine was returning.

You stood at the edge of the pier not bothering to sit down, leaning against one of the wooden corner pillars, hands in your pockets and eyes unfocused as you listened to the water lapping against wood and rocks beneath your feet. The surface remained still and unbroken, the occasional floating piece of garbage leftover from uncaring tourists tracing the edges of your peripheral vision. After just half an hour you left and made your way home.

Taking out an old notebook you sat on the couch ignoring the whines of your cat who vied for your attention between your feet. "Not now…" you muttered, scribbling words down as they came to you without any sense of order or category.

Strong

Smart

Smartass

Prankster

Sleepy

Beautiful

Protective

Gentle

Prideful

Scared

Ethereal

Red

With a sigh you dropped the pen, running your fingers through your hair as you scanned over the list of words, any description that came to mind when you thought of Bakugou. The weight of the question "What is he…to me?" clung to the back of your mind like barnacles to an unsuspecting whale.

"Shit…" you cursed, biting your lip and shutting your eyes tightly as you willed away a far-off idea; no, not idea, a curse more than anything. "What am I doing, fawning over a man with a fucking fish tail…" Tossing the list aside your head fell heavily into the palms of your hands. "But all that stuff he said and did, told me about, it couldn't have been for nothing, right?"

Indeed, Bakugou had warmed up to you greatly since your first meeting, going from spitting water in your face and stealing your food to falling asleep in your lap and listening to you read to him. He also revealed to you his past and why he was alone, why he left his home, and why he chose you to reveal himself to. He didn't seem like the type to overshare or divulge anything vulnerable about himself without a sense of trust and acceptance for who he was, flaws and all…so why did he leave without at least saying goodbye?

You scoffed, standing up from the couch to make some tea. Without an answer to your questions you turned cynical, dismissing the growing feelings for the merman and replacing them with ideas of selfishness as you tried to protect your heart from further grief. "Probably just visits for free food, or an excuse to not be lonely for a while…maybe he found someone else to hang out with, someone more interesting. Or maybe he went back home, maybe they forgave him…" Your voice trailed off, fingers brushing against a mug in the cabinet, jaw clenching as you swallowed hard. "He should…be home. With his own kind. Yeah…"

The tea was uncharacteristically bitter when it hit your tongue, and despite telling yourself it was for the best that he stopped showing up at the pier, your pillow was stained with dried tears by the time you finally fell asleep.

A little over a week passed without sight nor sound from Bakugou, and despite the pangs of familiar loneliness and heartache creeping back in to replace the satisfaction and happiness he'd brought into your life, you pushed him to the side in an attempt to continue on without him, convinced he wouldn't return. You couldn't escape the color red, though.

A stop sign. Strawberries at the corner store. Your coworker's coffee mug. All bright and jarring as they conjured mental images of his eyes like rubies glistening in an endless expanse that saw right into your soul. Try as hard as you might, you couldn't escape the bombardment of crimson.

The sky outside turned grey, foreshadowing an incoming storm over the sea as you rode the bus home. As if pulled by an invisible string tickling the back of your neck, you suddenly yanked the cord to stop the bus and get off several miles away from your apartment. The bus drove away as you crossed the street towards the recognizable pier, the beach on either side empty as thunder echoed far off beyond the horizon.

You slowed your steps as you closed in on the wooden planks. There was no reason to think he'd be here today compared to the previous day, or the day before that…it was just a feeling that urged you forward. Finally reaching the end of the pier you stopped and looked down with a frown seeing only still and empty water. With fists clenched tightly you turned to walk away but only made it a few steps before hearing a splash.

"(Y/N)!" a familiar voice called out, making you stop mid-stride. Your throat felt restricted, fingernails digging into your palms as you slowly turned around and walked - again - towards the end of the pier to meet the open ocean.

Your breath hitched as you saw Bakugou bobbing in the dark choppy water, ashe blonde hair and red eyes contrasting sharply against the blues, greens and blacks that surrounded him. He smiled when he saw you, but you didn't return the favor.

"I have-" He started to speak but you cut him off.

"…Where have you been?" you finally asked, the words almost caught in your throat, thick with ache and longing. "I thought…you might not have come back."

Bakugou bobbed up and down in the dark water, looking up at you with brows pulled together tightly and a inquiring look as his smile faded. "How long…?" he muttered, not understanding why you seemed upset.

Your lips parted at his question. "Do you not know how long you were gone? How long you've been away?" His wet hair, heavy against his brow, swung back and forth as he shook his head side to side. "Shit…over a week. About ten days." Holding up your hands to him, you mimed the numbers on your fingers, watching his eyes widen as he mentally calculated the number. He understood what days were considering he appeared everyday consistently at roughly the same time, following the natural cycle of the sun and moon rather than a clock.

His eyes fixated on you when he spoke, the rippling waves and threat of the incoming storm far from his mind. "I didn't…know," he said, voice low and laced with guilt at the realization that he'd kept you waiting far longer than he'd intended, days merging together seamlessly underwater. "No light…no sun…"

It took a minute to gather your composure, running a hand through your hair, breaking eye contact to look out into the dark horizon, the occasional spark of lighting cascading across ominous clouds and choppy waters. "I'm…" You bit your lip, wondering if you should say it, put it out there, lay yourself bare and raw and open and vulnerable. Taking a shaky breath, filing your lungs with the damp, humid, salty air of the ocean, you spoke. "I missed you. Which probably sounds stupid? I dunno but whatever, I did. You've become an important part of my life in a short amount of time and I just…I look forward to when we hang out and I have fun with you and then you just…stopped showing up one day. And I didn't know why." Your voice was cracking but you couldn't stop.

Bakugou was silent as he listened to your words; maybe he didn't understand all of them, but you hoped he gathered the general idea: that when he wasn't there, when you didn't see him, you were sad.

"I thought…maybe you got bored of me?" you continued, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle, a hand coming up to gesture at yourself. "Maybe I said something stupid that made you mad or upset so you decided to leave…or maybe other humans found you and took you away?" Just the idea of Bakugou being kidnapped, poked and examined by the worst of humanity in a revolting attempt at learning new information in the name of science made your skin crawl. "I made a lot of assumptions because you didn't even say 'goodbye' and I thought..fuck, I'm so dumb."

After what seemed like an eternity Bakugou swam closer to the pier, paying no mind to the threatening clouds and echoes of thunder in the distance. "I'm here now," he replied, voice solid and unwavering and real. Bakugou growled before disappearing under the water for a moment, reappearing in front of you as he leapt from the water and caught himself on the edge of the pier. "I'm here. Not alone. I come back." Despite the dark atmosphere and the tired look in his normally sparkling eyes, Bakugou shone brightly.

He thrust his hand forward, holding something out to you. "This…why I was away." Apprehension and worry coated his face as he offered up the object. You stepped forward and bent down in front of Bakugou, holding out your palm as he placed the object gently in your hand, his fingers glancing across your skin like a whisper before pulling away.

Turning the cool wet object between your fingers you realized it was a large oyster, oddly shaped and textured it smelled heavily of salt and old, deep water. You looked from the mollusk to the merman still perched on the edge of the damp wood, his expression

"What is this for?" you asked, wondering why he spent so much time looking for something so common. "Is it a gift? Or-"

He interrupted, hoping to convey what he wanted with is limited vocabulary. "Humans take these, I see them…but don't find best ones." You nodded, telling him you understood what he meant. "Yes…gift. Open it." His fingers dug into the palm of his hand, shoulders hunched and tense as you pried the oyster apart.

You almost fell over, throat dry and eyes wide as you opened the shell. The meaty inside couldn't cover up the handful of large, perfectly round pearls that sat in the middle. Jewelry wasn't really something you knew much about, but the value of something like this didn't escape you. Unfortunately, Bakugou interpreted your expression as one of disgust rather than shock.

"You don't…?" he muttered, face contorting into anger, though directed at you or at himself you weren't sure.

"Wait! Wait uh, shit. I'm not mad, I'm keeping it," you spat out quickly, hoping to dispel whatever irritation was bubbling to the surface. "Just so I understand…this is a gift. For me. From you?"

He seemed to calm down at your words before nodding, eyes cut to the side to avoid your stare, the rough ocean breeze of the incoming storm fanning his damp hair against his brow. At this you couldn't keep the heat from rising to your cheeks all the way to your ears; by human standards something like this would go for a lot of money, though the thought of selling it didn't cross your mind at all. From what you could gather, he'd apparently observed humans diving and fishing for oysters at some point and concluded that they were valuable in some way; maybe merpeople used them as well, seeing the beautiful pearls as something other than a byproduct of the mollusks. He'd considered what you - a human - might treasure from the ocean. Your hand was shaking considering the thoughtful gesture feeling overwhelmingly foolish at your assumption that he'd disappeared from your life.

"OK…" You cleared your throat, trying to get a grip on yourself, ideas flying rapidly as you only guessed at the reason for the gift. "But…what's it for? Why give it to me?" Another question made itself audible before you could stop yourself. "Bakugou…what am I to you?" It echoed the questioned you asked yourself days prior; though you were still figuring it out you couldn't deny he was important to you…but what did you mean to him?

A particularly loud roll of thunder caught his attention, turning his head towards the endless expanse of blackened waves. He seemed to mull over the questions carefully, avoiding your stare before finally lifting himself up onto the pier and sat with his back to you. He didn't turn as he spoke.

"You…nice. To me." His voice was laced with subtle frustration as he struggled to find the right words to say, either from a lack of expansive vocabulary or exposing the bare honesty of feeling grateful to someone for something indescribable. "You help me…not be alone. Not scared of me." Though you couldn't see his face, whatever assumed expression he made from his words tightened a knot in your gut. "(y/n)…" he continued, your name heavy on his tongue, careful and delicate with every syllable. "You…friend." You watched the muscles in his arms strain as he gripped the edge of the pier, the stress of openly admitting something so commonplace for most people feeling like a crushing weight of expectation, of vulnerability, of longing for the company of another.

Now you were even, a gift to rival - and overshadow - all of yours.

Silently, you made your way to the end of the pier, sitting down next to Bakugou but careful not to touch him or get too close, afraid of startling the moment. You turned the oyster over in your hands, memorizing the ridges and grooves under the skin of your thumb.

"Friends," you mirrored, mulling over the word, trying to decipher whether or not his and your definitions were the same. "Do you usually give gifts like this to friends?"

Bakugou scoffed, finally cutting his red eyes to look at you sharply. "If you not want-"

"Didn't I just say I did want it?" You held the oyster off to the side so he couldn't attempt to grab it back. "So, answer the question." He stubbornly crossed his arms, the mood finally starting to lighten for the first time since your reunion.

"Maybe," he spat out through gritted teeth in a badly hidden lie. The lightest touch of pink dusting his cheeks made you chuckle; which in turn made him groan.

You elbowed him in the arm before another roar of far-off thunder caught your attention as a single drop of water hit your cheek. "Thank you, Bakugou. I mean it. You're stubborn and full of sass and attitude, but I enjoy sitting out here with you everyday. You're my friend, too." At that, he finally turned to look at you, something hidden and breathtaking behind those ruby eyes. You'd gotten used to his near-overwhelming beauty by this point, but every once in a while he gave you a look that sent chills down your spine and caused your breath to hitch in your throat and your face to flush; he gave you that look now.

"A-anyway," you managed to stutter out, averting your eyes so you could actually speak properly after clearing your throat. "I'm…glad you're back. Things felt kind of empty with you gone…Sorry, I thought you weren't coming back, seems like a pretty shitty thing to think now. Just…say 'goodbye' if you plan on leaving again, alright?"

"I won't leave," Bakugou said, still staring at you, words punctual and confident. A cool hand came up to cup your chin, turning your head so you couldn't avoid his near-overwhelming gaze. "Promise."

Something urged you forward, and before you realized it, your arms were around his neck, an overwhelming urge to feel him, to be close, to hear his gasp against your ear as the longing for contact overpowered everything else. His skin was cool to the touch, his muscles tense, his hair damp by your cheek as his hands palmed your torso in sudden response. He smelled strongly of the sea, of salt and water and fish and - surprisingly - of firewood, as if he'd just stamped out a campfire, remnants of smoke lingering like burning embers. You thought he'd push you away…but he didn't. After a moment, the tension started to fade and his hands wrapped slowly around you, unsure and questioning. Up to this point, you'd always let him initiate physical contact, not wanting to scare him off or move too far away from assumed boundaries. His chin settled into your neck, the weight of him real and physical as you felt him breathe against you. A raindrop hit your cheek, your hand clutched tightly around the gift of pearls.

Bakugou was first to break the silence. "Friends…do this?" You felt his throat bob against your collar bone, vibrating you to your very core. The irony of the question wasn't lost on you, thinking to just moments before when you asked if friends gave friends extravagant gifts.

"Maybe…sometimes," you whispered into his damp hair, suddenly very aware of how close he was before you attempted to pull away, clearing your throat as you unwound your arms from around his neck awkwardly. Another drop of rain, then two, then three dripped down your arm. He didn't loosen his grip, preventing you from backing away.

"Uh…" you mumbled, cheek still pressed against the side of his own. Your hands settled on his strong shoulders, fingers grazing gently over the scattered orange and gold scales. "How many oysters did you look through to find this one?" You hoped a question might break the awkwardness of the position.

His fingers moved against the back of your shirt, drumming into your skin. "A lot," he finally answered, feeling him smirk against your neck. The rain was light now, a sign that you should get going before you were completely soaked.

"I'm glad you're back," you couldn't help but say as you felt your heart beating rapidly in your chest. "But uh…I have to go, damn rain…"

Reluctantly, he loosened his grip around you, unhooking his chin from your shoulder. Faces only inches apart, his gaze could swallow you whole if you let it, but you forced yourself to pull away. "I'll be here tomorrow, if you will…?"

Bakugou nodded. "Tomorrow." With the oyster clutched tightly in your hand you stood up, face and hair now wet from the rain as it came down harder with each passing minute.

"Dammit rain..! OK, tomorrow it is then! You better be here!" You yelled back as you started running, your free hand waving back towards Bakugou as the other held tightly onto his gift. He waved back, composed against the water that pelted down on his skin before diving down off the pier and disappearing below a sea of black.

Silent words formed on his hips, a promise to you - and to himself - that he would always return, and that red would come up to embrace you.