Another Day, Another Update. I don't have any announcements this week and I don't think I will give you guys a rundown on this chapter. Anyways, enough of me becuase you guys need to read about Izuku and Marris' day int this week's chapter. Enjoy.

A gentle breeze flowed through the air as Izuku waved goodbye to Tooru as she crossed the wrought iron gates of her hero school. A tiny pang of hurt reverberated in his chest as he watched the invisible girl look back at him one last time before she disappeared behind the doors of UA. He wanted nothing more than to go with her, to be her classmate as well as being one her closest friend. But some things were never meant to be. His brief moment of sadness was interrupted by a pair of hands clasping onto his shoulders, these hands were warm to the touch. Izuku gazed behind himself in an upward direction, and saw the large form of Marris casting herself as his shadow for the time being.

"Do not be sad Little Minnow, Ma'Kal Ris will be with us as soon as her hunt is over.", Marris said in a dreary tone, "Though, I do not wish to leave either of you alone. I cannot be in two places at once….yet."

Izuku giggled at the idea of Marris trying to figure out how to achieve such a thing, "I know Marris, but I just wish I could go with her."

Marris looked back towards the doors, "I do too, Little Minnow."

A moment of silence fell upon the two, as the absent mindedly gazed upon the hero school in the warm sunlight. Izuku pondered how his life would be any different if he would have succeeded at the exam. Maybe he would've made tons of friends, real friends who cared about him. Maybe the teachers would actually care about him and his future. Maybe he would finally get to meet All Might, and ask him the question that his gnawing at him since he was five years old. Maybe Tooru would be grateful for him saving her, so much that she would reward him with a ki…

"Mal'Ken Ris! You are far too young.", Marris balked in her motherly tone.

Izuku jumped into the air at the bark of his oldest friend and mentor, all the while he blushed red as he forgot that Marris could hear his thoughts. He turned his gaze back to Marris, and saw that her blank face was showcasing an exasperated expression. With embarrassment wriggling inside him like a worm, the blue haired boy thought it would be best to change the subject.

"U-Um, yes. Sorry about that Marris.", the flustered teen said while looking away, "Well, since there's not much for us to do until this afternoon. Perhaps we can go to the beach and work on the new quirk. I would like some practice using it before we head out again."

The fish lady did not look ecstatic at the idea. She crossed her long arms across her chest adding onto the displeased parent image. "You were only injured two days ago, and Crab couldn't have healed you that well. I understand your excitement but I was reluctant to even let you train with Ma'Kal Ris this soon."

Izuku had forgotten Marris could be just as fretting as his own Mother when it came to his safety. The fact that he had nearly gotten killed was enough for him to be scolded for hours by the fish lady once Tooru was sent home. But if anything, the USJ incident was a lesson wrapped in thorns that he needed to address before returning to the streets. He was strong, but the USJ showed him that there was always a bigger fish. The more he thought about it, he was very similar to Eraserhead in terms of combat. Stealthy, quick, and efficient. But these strengths were negated by the fact both of them had been forced into a brawl against an opponent who was tough, strong, and fast. It was exactly what that villain Tomura had said, "A Mage cannot fight a Fighter without another Fighter".

Izuku was too specialized in his fighting style and quirk mindset. He needed to diversify in order to hold out on his own, or another repeat at the USJ might occur. And it might be possible that Marris might not be able to save the day as she did before.

Izuku turned his gaze back to Marris to argue his case with the fish lady, but only to her face only a few inches from his own.

"You make a good point Little Minnow.", spoke the fish woman, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to do a little bit of practice before Ma'Kal Ris comes to us. Come, let's not waste anymore sunlight. We need to get you strong again for the next battle."

Without another word, Marris gracefully twisted in the air away from Izuku and began to float towards the concrete reef of Musustafu City. Izuku blinked before realizing that Marris had read his thoughts once again. With an exasperated sigh, Izuku took off in pursuit of the fish lady towards their usual stomping grounds.

Dagobah Beach hadn't changed much beyond the initial cleaning that Izuku had managed to do over his months of training. With the exception that the larger hunks of trash had finally been removed, making the beach completely trash free for the first time in years. However, even with all the cleaning the beach still maintained its reputation of a place to avoid in favor of the other attractions. Aside from the occasional stray dog or cat, Marris and Izuku were the ones who most frequently visited the old beach.

It was part of the reason Izuku still used it to help train his various quirks and combat style without the fear of someone walking in on him. But also the beach served as an area in which he and Marris could lounge and relax without having to worry about spacing. Izuku got straight to business after shortly arriving by starting out with the tai-chi esque stretches while Marris observed him from her favorite stretch of sand. Once he was done, he nearly sprinted towards his teacher, clearly excited to try out his latest quirk.

He opened his mouth and spilled his thoughts out to the mermaid, "So are we going to do that same ability at the USJ and practice with because I have a whole notebook for improvements. First we could…."

A slender finger was placed on his mouth, shutting it before he could get lost in one of his mumbling rants. The fish woman looked at the blue haired boy with an unreadable face, or rather one that was lost in thought. Marris looked at him with a neutral visage after seemingly made up her mind.

"No.", deadpanned the mermaid, "We will not be working on that part because there is nothing you have control over. But I believe something else might be achievable."

"What do you mean by that Marris?", he said while hiding his disappointment.

Marris chuckled a bit at that response, "Well, to put it simply...we are going to see if you can summon a fraction of myself into the world instead of my entire form."

Izuku looked quizzically at Marris. "When you put it like that, it doesn't sound like much."

The fish woman looked at the teen with the blank face of a sage, "I understand that when one grows up weak it is only natural one wants to use their strength to their fullest. But one must never forget to restrain themselves of their strength lest they hurt themselves by not knowing their limits."

"You want me to start small in order for me to know my limit, so I can become stronger?", Izuku half-asked half-stated after a minute of digesting Marris' words.

The fish woman beamed, "Correct! It would be irresponsible of me to give you the power to level mountains and not teach you how to use it without hurting yourself. Only a fool would do such a thing without giving a second thought about their student's well being."

Flashes of a lot of broken limbs appeared in the thoughts of the teen causing him to shiver at the realization. He was certainly glad that Marris wasn't having him figure out all this on his own.

"Right! Then where do we begin?", Izuku asked with determination back in his system.

"For now, we will see if your body could handle the stress of a fraction of my form. But if I did things right with these many past suns, then your vessel should be fine. Yet, it never hurts to ensure you are alone when eating your quarry.", said the fish woman.

"So how are we going to see that I am a suitable vessel?", questioned the fish boy.

"It should be the same as all the others. Just remember what I taught you: Focus and reach out. Find the bond we share, but you will not be alone in this. I will reach from beyond the depths to help."

Izuku did as Marris commanded, and focused his thoughts towards the sound of dripping water.

Drip Drip Drip

Izuku smiled at the sound, satisfied that what used to take him hours to achieve now only takes minutes. He opened his eyes to see Marris frozen in time with her arm outstretched towards him in the black void. However, to his surprise the fish woman's body began to wiggle and twitch in numerous places before the sound of eggshells breaking erupted in his ears. In a jilted and stiff manner, Marris began to move forward towards Izuku trying to close the small distance between the two. Izuku took it as a sign to also move towards his patron, and he did so as well but without any restriction to his movement. A bright green light emerged when their fingers met each other.

When the bright green light faded from his eyes, he found himself once again at Dagobah beach.

I don't feel any different

Then like the flip of a switch, Izuku became overwhelmed with a strange feeling that felt like a bad case of nausea. Izuku rubbed his belly as he cursed himself for opening his big mouth. He wondered if this was normal, or if something had gone horribly wrong. His thoughts drifted to when Marris said exploding heads was a commonality, as if to add onto his growing paranoia.

"Marris! I really don't feel so good. Is there something wrong?", Izuku wearily asked.

But he was met with silence.

"Marris? Marris?", Izuku called out as he looked around for the fish lady, "Come on Marris, this isn't funny. I think something is wrong."

But once again Izuku got no response.

Fear began to drip into his system as he started to spin around looking for the mermaid. "MARRIS?! MARRIS!? WHERE ARE YOU?!", Izuku shouted with desperation in his voice.

For all his shouting, he got no response from Marris. On top of that, the nausea grew worse as a razor sharp pain pierced his body like a bullet. Izuku retched out a dry cough as his legs grew weak and the world started spinning in his eyes. The blue haired boy tried to stable himself, but his body lost all sense of motor control. Without any resistance Izuku fell onto the white sand and curled up into a ball trying to vainly numb the pain in his system.

"Marris….Marris", Izuku hoarsely whispered, "Please...help...me."

But all he received was silence before he blacked out.

Poke Poke Poke

The world was lost in the vision of Izuku or perhaps his eyes were closed. Did things go wrong and he became a victim of an accident?

Poke Poke Poke

Well that didn't explain why something was poking him on the forehead. With great effort, Izuku tried to open his eyes, and to his surprise it worked. Dominating his vision was Marris, who was upside down whilst floating in the air, poking him with her index finger.

"What happened?", Izuku said with a groan as he sat up.

"It was as I said. I was making sure your body could handle the stress of my form.", Marris explained, "And fortunately, you are a suitable vessel from my trip."

"Why didn't you tell me it would hurt? I thought we were doing this to make sure this wouldn't happen", Izuku asked groggily.

In response, the cheeks of the fish woman grew a darker color, and the dark blank eyes of Marris lost their usual luster. She hung her head down as her arms drooped in their sockets, causing them to sink into the sand.

"I am sorry Little Minnow.", Marris said with guilt in her voice, "But this is as new to me as it is to you. I should have known that it wouldn't be easy on you. I am sorry. I am sorry."

It was not difficult to see that Marris was being hard on herself for something that was an honest mistake. It was something Izuku came to notice quickly during his life with the fish woman, and it was always after he received a beating from his middle school bullies. Even when she couldn't speak her body language was enough to show the frustration and guilt she had. Izuku reached out and touched Marris on the shoulder, and almost instantly he could feel the tension disappear.

"It's okay Marris. It was just a mistake.", Izuku soothed gently, "Come on, let's get back to it."

The fish woman's expression remained unreadable, but Izuku swore he could've heard muffled sniffing coming from Marris.

"Yes. Of course. Let us continue.", Marris said softly, "Now touch my arm Little Minnow, and speak the words: Toku Pa'lar Mar'Ris*

Izuku hesitated at the next step of the training, his mind still focused on the unpleasant experience he had not too long ago. Yet, he relented when he saw Marris begin to tremble. The trembling was so slight that one would have mistaken it for quick shallow breaths, but Izuku knew Marris did not need to breathe. Heaven knows what self-degrading thoughts the fish woman has about her mistake, and if the hints at her past were any indication, then it explains why his patron is a perfectionist.

Izuku grabbed onto Marris' arm, and gently squeezed it. "Toku Pa'lar Mar'Ris."

…

…

…

Nothing happened? Another failure? What did they do wrong? Maybe he wasn't compatible with the quirk or perhaps...

"Little Minnow?", interjected the fish woman

Mutter mutter mutter

"Little Minnow?", Marris tried saying again.

Mutter mutter mutter

Izuku felt a warm and soft hand grab onto his chin as he mumbled his thoughts.

"I'm sorry Marris. I got carried away with the mumbling again didn't I?", Izuku apologized as he turned around to face Marris, "I...just...tr...ying...to...huh?"

To the average person, Marris would be considered an abomination on the account that she looks like a Frankenstein-like creature that appeared to be made from all manner of oddities. As a result, the appearance of the fish woman was eye catching to the point that any changes would immediately stick out. Izuku always thought her arms were one of the most odd features of Marris. They were long, so long that they would drag on the ground if she couldn't float. They possessed an unnatural amount of strength and yet they were extremely frail at the same time. They contrasted so sharply with the rest of her body that it would be one of the first places in which one would look first for any abnormalities. Or in this case, when her right arm just vanished from out of its socket.

Izuku stared down Marris with a sickly curiosity as his attention was squarely on the place her arm should've been. Soon, however, panic descended upon him like a dropping stone as he realized something that should've been obvious.

"MARRIS! YOUR ARM IS GONE?!", Izuku screamed in a panic.

The fish woman looked at the flailing human in front of her and then back at the now empty arm zone. Izuku expected many things to happen after that, none of them good. Yet one thing he did not expect was Marris to start laughing.

"Cheechee...I...cheechee...wonder who...cheechee...stole it?", Marris forced out before being completely lost in her laughing.

The blue haired boy looked dumbfoundedly at Marris as she started to roll in the sand while laughly like a maniac. Izuku didn't understand what was so funny about losing an arm, it was no laughing matter to him. Why couldn't he have a normal day of training without something happening like this? Was it too much to ask for? Izuku rubbed his temple as he could feel a stress headache surface from this entire debacle.

Except instead of his hand being the one to rub his aching temple, it was a hand that had only four spindly fingers.

Izuku flinched as he pulled his arm away from himself, or rather pulled Marris' arm away from him. The teen carefully examined the foriegn limb that had become attached onto him like a parasite. But it wasn't a parasite at all, instead it felt more like an extension of his fourth quirk.

"It can't be? Can it?", Izuku said in bewilderment. As if to prove to himself that it was true, Izuku flexed his arm. And sure enough Marris' arm did the flexes that he had wanted to do.

The young warlock took off his shirt as quickly as he could with only one arm. Once he finished with the action, he resumed his examination of the alien limb.

The arm was an exact replica of Marris' arm, but one that was slightly modified from the original. It was shorter and smaller to accommodate his smaller body from the much larger body of the mermaid-look-alike. Runes were carved into the blue skin in a manner that made them look like self-inflicted scars. And its length ended in the middle of his bicep that looked like someone had welded the two foreign skins together.

"It looks like this little test was a success.", cheered the fish woman.

Izuku returned his attention to the one-armed Marris.

"Since it has been proven that it could be done, then let us actually sharpen our fangs.", Marris said as she closed the distance between them. "I hope your skull is ready to work Izuku, because I want you to get creative. After all, I can't always give you a hand."

Izuku face palmed with that pun.

A small breeze danced in the air as the shoreline purred all along the white sands of Dagobah. The sun was due to begin its descent below the horizon, and begin another night in the small city. Many would take this lingering afternoon to prepare themselves for their evening activities like dinner or homework. For Izuku, an entire afternoon of quirk training in the hot sun just made him want to go home and slid into bed. But his work was only beginning with Tooru due to arrive at the beach and begin her training with him. This was going to be the norm until Marris could teach the invisible girl the quirk of the oarfish, and then the two could dedicate the afternoons to being friends. But that will have to wait for the time being. In the meantime Izuku dragged himself back towards the drier sands of Dagobah after a long cool dip into the ocean. When he was satisfied with the length he was away from the water, he flipped over into a sitting position and viewed the kaleidoscope of oranges, reds, and blues mixing together across the sea.

"I am proud of you today, Izuku.", Marris whispered behind him, " You did well with practice."

Izuku beamed with the praise from his supernatural patron, "Thank you Marris. But it's nothing too big or deserving of praise. Though I don't see why it is a big deal anyways."

The teen could hear Marris huff and snort. "Well, you try saying those words when your youngling is wearing your tail like a snail does a shell. Or perhaps when you have to face the indignity of only being cut up into little pieces unexpectedly."

The lamprey-like tail that now served as Izuku's legs flopped in irritation. "I already told you I was sorry Marris!", Izuku said in embarrassment as he covered his face with his hands, "If I had known, then I wouldn't have done it without warning you first."

"That didn't stop you from laughing at me falling in the sand, and I know when someone is laughing at me not with me. That little rat that was your predecessor showed me well enough with his own little tricks and jests.", whined the fish woman, "Perhaps, I should tell Ma'Kal Ris about all the little things you did when you were smaller in return for my humiliation?"

Izuku froze up, "Y-You wouldn't dare?! M-Marris you wouldn't be that petty would you?"

The fish woman said nothing at first but then replied to the merman in a mocking voice, "No, I wouldn't. But you aren't sure of that? Right, Mighty Boy?"

The bickering between the two ended when the sound of crunching sand was caught up in their ears, or whatever counted for ears for Marris. The bisected mermaid and the merman with the stolen tail turned to gaze upon the source of the new noise. Standing there was Hagakure Tooru still dressed in her UA uniform with her school bag draped over her shoulder. Her expression was mostly blank with her mouth only slightly agape and the pupils in her brown eyes were dilated. Her short brown hair shivered in the light breeze while her pointed ears were blushing red. Her breathing was fast and shallow as if she had been running before stopping.

Tooru was a person in which Izuku could come out of his shell and be himself without fear. But for some reason this Tooru in front of him made him do the exact opposite of that. He found himself unable to speak with his throat suddenly drying up. Something warm and anxious emerged in his gut as his best friend merely stood there without saying a word. His face burned red and sweat began to drip down as the minutes lingered.

"H-hey, Tooru-san.", Izuku greeted nervously.

"Hey, Izuku-kun.", replied Tooru. Yet, the invisible girl did not take her eyes off him nor did she even move to acknowledge his greeting.

The Merman nearly flinched at the machine-like reply he got from Tooru. He didn't know what was wrong with the girl, but it was beginning to make his heart beat like a wardrum the longer this went on. Maybe it was because he still had the fish tail! Yes, she was probably in shock or something! Either way, he needed to do something because he is pretty sure that Tooru is having a nosebleed.

"I-I can explain this.", said Izuku hoping that it will stir up the elf-girl.

"Can you?", Tooru droned with the same machine-like manner as before.

He just hoped it was a good enough explanation, or the next few weeks of training are going to be difficult.

Unknown to either of the teens was Marris looking at the sight with glee. After so many years of loneliness, she was glad her little minnow had found a friend like Tooru, and even more so now that the two are going to be something more than friends in the future. It gave her an excited anticipation that she hadn't felt since her little Anthony met Cleo. Afterall, she never had an opportunity to be a grandmother before. And that thought made her hair wiggle in excitement.

Like it or hate it? Be sure to post a review to let me know. Thanks for all the support and love for the story. It makes this author keep on writing. Anyways, see you guys in the next chapter.

Next chapter: A Stain upon the Sports Festival