"What do you mean you can't change?"

Koge stared at the man in the water, brow furrowed in confusion. Sitting on the beach, she had watched Bakugou make his way into the calm waves up to his chest, where he promptly vanished beneath the surface. They had planned on a final goodbye after he had changed, perhaps a bit of swimming and enjoying a final moment together before he returned home. But now, he was standing waist deep in the water, glaring down at his own body in confusion.

"It's exactly what I fucking said!" Bakugou snapped back at her, reaching down into the water to rub his thighs, as if it would help. "This is bullshit! I feel fine, I'm not weak or sick at all anymore!" Now on the verge of throwing a real fit, Bakugou ducked back into the water, once again vanishing from Koge's view. Frown crossing her lips, Koge stood, starting to make her way into the water up to her knees. He can't change… How is that possible? Is he still sick? Or does he have some type of permanent damage?

After a minute or two of nothing, Koge softly called his name, too worried about him to resist. When there was still no response, she made her way further in, stopping with the water at her belly button. "Katsu- EEK!" Squealing in shock, she jumped away at the sudden appearance of Bakugou's blonde head, glaring up at her as he surfaced. "What, Utsuro?! I'm trying to change!"

"S-sorry." Koge placed a hand over her chest, heart racing. "I just got worried when you didn't come back up."

"I may not be able to breathe in the water when I'm like this, but I can hold my breath for a long time. I'm not going to drown." With a frustrated sigh, Bakugou stood, Koge's eyes following him up. "I just don't fucking understand why I can't change. Any time before it's been because I willed it."

"How long had you been human during those times?" Koge crossed her arms over her chest, trying to resist the urge to touch him. She wanted to comfort him, to hold him and try to calm his frustrations, but she couldn't. He wasn't her lover, after all.

"Not more than a day."

"Well, let's think about it." Koge avoided looking at him as he reached up to push his wet hair out of his face, hating how beautiful he looked standing waist deep and butt naked in the water. It reminded her of those bad vacation commercials, or even of the ones promoting some type of sexy cologne. "Name off what usually prevents your kind from being able to change back. Maybe something will click."

With a soft grunt in agreement, Bakugou sunk back down into the water up to his chin, beginning to swim about a bit. "It's like my body can decide for me. Some stupid bullshit biological thing that sets if it wants me to be a fucking fish or human, no matter what I want."

"So like an override on a computer."

"Eh… sure? Whatever the fuck that means." He flicked some water at her in annoyance, which Koge took without retaliation. "Anyway, you fucking nerd. It will decide for me if I need to be human to survive, like what happened this past time. I wouldn't have survived in my normal body. But nearly drowning myself just a minute ago didn't work either, usually that's something that would prompt me to change, but… there's something else."

"Keep going." Koge waited, running her hand along the surface of the water as she waited for him to continue. Bakugou sighed loudly, obviously becoming a bit lost himself. "It could be anything! Either my body still thinks I haven't recovered enough, or it thinks I need to stay human for another reason, like to ma-" Suddenly, he stopped, choking on the words and coughing as he turned his back to her. "-Fuck, nevermind!"

Koge couldn't even ask him what he was going to say before he vanished back under water. Before he could get away, she snatched him by the leg, squeaking as she was yanked under the water by his strength. When she was pulled back up to the surface, she found herself in his arms, though his glare told her that he hated what she had just tried to do. "Utsuro, what the fuck, don't just grab me!"

"Tell me what you were gonna say!" Wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist so he couldn't escape, matching his glare with one of her own. Bakugou shook his head, attempting to pry her off with no success. "No! It's stupid!"

"It's not stupid, it might be the problem! Tell me!"

"It can't be the problem! I can't let it be!"

"Katsuki-"

"It's to mate!"

Bakugou's harsh voice echoed across the water, a tangible silence falling over them. Koge could only stare up at him in bewilderment, a burning heat slowly rising up into her cheeks as realization crept upon her. "To… mate."

"My kind has already usually found a mate by my age. I haven't. There's no one I've made that bond with…"

"You think… it's me?" The cracking of Koge's voice gave away her sudden rise in embarrassment, followed by the fierce flushing of her cheeks. Bakugou was silent for a moment before he shook his head, this time using true force to get her off of him so he could keep his distance. "I don't know! If that's the case, then I could end up being human forever! I don't want that." He gestured to the house in the distance, glaring at it as if it were an eyesore. "I don't want to be stuck on land forever with you."

Instantly, the embarrassed fluttering in Koge's stomach clenched into hurt nausea, her entire body tensing. The way he spoke about it, it was as if she were nothing but a nuisance, an object that meant nothing to him. Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, Koge stood, taking a second to fix her swimsuit top that had gotten messed up from him pushing her off. "Well, you don't have to be stuck here forever with me, Katsuki. You can be alone." Ignoring the bewildered look on his face, she started to make her way back to the shore, though the water slowed her advances to an annoying pace. She wanted to be away from him, to never lay eyes on him again, since that was obviously what he wanted as well.

"Utsuro, hold up a second!" Bakugou snatched her by the wrist, but Koge was quick to slap him off, finally turning a teary eyed glare up at him. "No! I've been so stupid, to think that you could show a shred of care for anyone but yourself! In three weeks I've done nothing but take care of you and I thought I was seeing a different, softer side of you. I've actually fallen for you! I didn't cry this morning because I was going to simply miss you!" Her voice hitched as she hiccuped, though she still held back her tears the best she could. "I cried because I thought I was going to lose what I thought was the deepest connection I've ever made with anyone. But it's obvious that it was all just… fake, to get what you wanted until you could leave."

The glare on Bakugou's face was something that Koge hadn't seen yet. It wasn't angry, but instead it seemed more… hurt. "Are you serious, Utsuro? You think I was being fake this whole time!?" Pointing to himself, Bakugou took a few steps forward, though Koge didn't back or cower down. "I never do anything I don't want to do, and I never fake anything! I may have needed your help, but if I didn't give a shit about you, you would have been able to tell. I'm not heartless!"

"You sure act like it!" Koge kept her glare on him, refusing to back down. "You don't treat someone you care about like they're a nuisance! Your body probably doesn't want to change back because it likes how it feels to fuck!"

"That's not true! Why are you being such a stubborn bitch!?"

"Because maybe I hoped that you would want to stay with me! That maybe you felt the same way I did, that you felt a special connection with me."

"I did!" Bakugou pointed out towards the ocean. "But how can I just leave everything I've ever known? My home, my family and people I call friends? How can you expect me to leave that all behind? You want me to stay, but you haven't even fucking considered what I'm missing, what I'm used to! If anyone's being selfish, it's you! You're not like me, I can't be with you!"

It was then that the pain in Koge's chest grew too great, the control she had on her tears finally breaking apart. As they poured down her cheeks, her glare faded along with her anger, into a suffocating sadness brought on by the rejection that she had feared. Hugging herself, Koge turned and started to make her way back to shore, struggling to speak against her sobs. "You're right… I'm not like you. And we can't be together. Maybe once that sinks in, you'll be able to change and go home. Don't come back to the house."

"Utsuro-"

"You don't even have the decency to call me by my name, even after all this. That just shows me how little you think of me." Stopping at her clothes that rested on the shore, she picked them up, leaving his behind. Without another word between them, Koge started back up towards the house, leaving the baffled man and all her feelings for him behind.