Ahh... I hate work; I'd much rather be writing my smutty, BS stories than anything else but I'm either turning into a grease ball in front of fryers, trying to keep up with housework/take care of my grandma or dead to the world drooling into a pillow now.
#ReWriting everything SUCKS.
But it's worth it when I get to read ya'lls beautifully comments :)
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Learn To Breathe
Chapter 4
~Time-Skip: 6 Months (They're all still 16)~
Eijiro followed the Prince down to their cove as he had at least once a week since being saved, examining his movements. A few days prior, Todoroki had been summoned for a sparring match with his father to check his progress in combat. Though he'd done well according to most everyone, Enji had not been impressed and used his superior size to toss his son across the room.
Although Shoto hadn't breathed a word about it, Eijiro had seen the large bruise on his lower back that had come from his crashing into the weapons rack; it had to be painful. "Uh… Prin—Shoto… are you sure you're up for this today?" he finally asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Todoroki responded, glancing over his shoulder at the concerned redhead.
"Well… uhh… I didn't wanna say nothin—"
"What have I told you about grammar, Kirishima?" Shoto interrupted.
"Oh. Right… Er… I didn't want to say anything, but, you've been limping for a few days now and I'm not sure that tumbling around in the water with Izuku is good for you." Eijiro stated, his face twisted as he tried to remember how 'proper' language went.
"There really isn't any need for you to worry about me; I have access to the best doctors in the Kingdom and will be just fine."
Kirishima quieted down and continued trailing after the stubborn Prince until they'd reached the shore, finding Deku already swimming back and forth impatiently in the shallows. "Shoto! Kirishima!" he cheered, twirling around happily.
Todoroki smiled softly, stripping himself down to his boxers this time after having one too many close calls going back home with salt hardened clothing. He stepped in, making it about to his hips before Izuku was hugging him, squeezing him tightly with one arm.
The Prince winced, his back throbbing deep in the vertebrae. Deku immediately let go and backed up, staring up at him worriedly. "Shoto?" he whispered, "I hurt you?"
Todoroki shook his head, knowing what the boy was saying even if he didn't completely understand the foreign whistling. He turned so that Midoriya could see the prior injury. "I'm okay… it's just sore for now. My father was teaching me self defense and… got a little rough…"
Izuku's green eyes were filled with concern, but his nose was scrunched in confusion. Kirishima was quick to explain, making sure he kept his translation as close to Todoroki's as possible to avoid letting any sensitive information slip. Fortunately, it seemed like Midoriya was content with the explanation.
He settled his tail on the ocean floor and stood up as straight as he could, revealing his own injured arm to the two. "I guess we'll both have to take it easy today! A great white came near my home and it was really fast! I'm lucky it only grazed me before I scared it away!"
Todoroki listened to Eijiro carefully, finding the long gash that ran up the boy's arm looking a little worse than a 'grazing'. It wasn't stitched together either, the skin soggy and red as it formed the best protective covering it could while constantly submerged in water.
"Ask Izuku if he wants to sit and practice speaking more in the shallows today… He was telling us last time that he wanted to look at the shells near the shore, right?"
Midoriya beamed when Kirishima finished translating, nodding his head quickly. He reached out a hand to grasp one of Todoroki's, smiling even more brightly when the boy's fingers curled around his own and began pulling him along.
Eijiro watched after them, giving them a little space while still remaining close enough to help them converse if necessary. It didn't look at all like the Prince was just using Izuku… In fact, it seemed more likely that he had lied to the King.
As his aid, Kirishima spent more time with Shoto than anyone else. He now knew what irritated him and what he could tolerate. He knew his favorite foods and how he woke up painfully early each day just to sit and watch the sun rise over the ocean. But in all the hours he'd spent assisting the Prince or just being near him, he'd never seen him look so serene and even happy as when Midoriya was around.
Midoriya made it back to Yuuei a few hours before the sun set and slightly darkened the ocean floor, his head still up in the clouds from spending the morning with Shoto.
His arm throbbed painfully, reminding him that he'd probably overdone it even if he and the Prince hadn't actually done all that much. He slipped by some of the actually vigilant guards successfully, having found out early the best ways to sneak around.
Unfortunately, once he was inside the city he couldn't exactly continue being cautious without arousing even more suspicion than his frequent absences. As he swam through the beautiful coral and sea plant homes to his own, he heard a familiar growl.
"Deku!" Bakugo shouted, his voice making the boy flinch slightly. "What the fuck did I tell you this morning?"
Izuku hunched into himself slightly but ultimately looked around as the blonde exited his little cave. He sighed internally, somewhat wishing that he hadn't gone and picked a spot so close to the temperamental Mer; he couldn't get away with anything.
"Hey, Kacchan…" he called meekly. "I didn't use it too much, I swear!"
The blonde 'tsked' at him hotly, immediately swimming up to Izuku and grabbing his injured arm. "I could hear you panting in pain, dip shit. I know you irritated it today! What the fuck was so important that you had to go off on your own again?"
Midoriya attempted to pull his limb away but only succeeded in getting Bakugo to squeeze more tightly. Another sharp pain tore through the muscle and he whimpered, deciding it was best just to give in. "It's none of your business… but… maybe you could—"
"Yeah, yeah… fucking useless Deku. Go lay down and I'll make you some of the medicine. Honestly… how a little squishy fish like you ever impressed people so much I'll never fucking understand." Bakugo snapped, muttering to himself as he went home.
Izuku might have chuckled if he wasn't in so much pain. He was just lucky that Katsuki hadn't harassed him more about his whereabouts during the day as he usually would.
By the time he'd swam to the brightly colored coral home that he and his friends had built for him, the blonde was back and still scowling. Midoriya settled himself down on moss-covered rock he slept on, biting his lip in preparation for the medicine.
"Here," Katsuki grunted, holding out a seaweed ball that contained a mixture of other shredded plants. "And fucking chew it all this time; I don't give a damn if it's bitter. You start choking again and I won't help you."
Izuku smiled sheepishly and took the offering, grimacing as he chewed. Although he never thought he'd get used to how awful it was, the blonde had a special skill with making medicine; he could already feel the throbbing subsiding some. "Thank you, Kacchan!"
"Tsk. Whatever, Deku. How about you stop picking fights with creatures three times your fucking size so you actually make it to being king?"
Midoriya swallowed the disgusting ball, scrunching his nose with indignation. "I didn't go after it, Kacchan!" he insisted. "It was going after Eri and I was the only one around to help!"
Bakugo got in Izuku's face, red eyes gleaming with a mixture of smugness and irritation. "If you'd had your guard around you, then you wouldn't have almost become shark bait."
Midoriya groaned in annoyance and fell backward, quickly rolling to his uninjured side so that he could turn away from Katsuki. After coming to Yuuie, he'd quickly become a favorite among his peers and those older than he was, earning a reputation for his intelligence, compassion, morality, and fighting skills.
Just before he turned fifteen their King, Toshinori Yagi, who went by the moniker 'All Might' for his considerable power, had declared him their next heir. Since then he'd been training hard to be good enough to fill the void that All Might's eventual death would leave.
But he'd yet to pick out the Mer's that would become his personal guard, protecting him from harm so that he could rule over their people. He simply didn't want anyone risking their life for his… and also it would be much harder to visit Shoto with someone constantly around him.
"I haven't decided yet, Kacchan…" he whined. "I don't see why you're interested in one of the positions anyway… You always act like you hate me."
"Ah? It's been months since you were chosen. Get your fucking act together! And don't move that fucking arm at all. If I come over here in the morning and you aren't in that exact spot I'll fucking tear it off, you got that?"
Midoriya blew bubbles out of his nose but nodded. Even if Bakugo was volatile and generally unpleasant to be around most of the time, he meant well and showed that he cared in his own gruff way… Apparently, being an ass just came naturally.
As the blonde grumbled and left, Izuku sighed and closed his eyes, picturing Shoto's smiling face from earlier that day. He couldn't wait to go see him once more.
~Time-Skip: 6 Months (They're all 17 now)~ *** Communication will be in Mer, but not bolded this time unless Todoroki doesn't understand***
Todoroki waded into the warm water, nudging his feet through the sand as he looked for shells. He knew Izuku really liked them, especially ones that came from the shallows since he couldn't come into those areas very often.
Kirishima was with him today like always, but he stayed up on the shore since he could communicate fairly well on his own now. Todoroki felt a little guilty, seeing as Izuku was the only person that treated Kirishima as completely normal, but wanted to be selfish, and Eijiro swore he didn't mind.
Over the past year, he'd learned to see Midoriya as a 'he' rather than an 'it'. But more than that, he'd started having butterflies flutter around his gut every time the young Mer so much as looked in his direction. His laugh was contagious, smile more warming than the roaring fires back at his palace; Shoto craved his presence in the best way and everything the teen did seemed to make his pinning worse.
While he admittedly knew very little about relationships of any kind, he had enough self-awareness to know that he was falling for the young Mer. But he didn't have the confidence to say anything. Deku was sunshine incarnate, warm, full of happiness, and inherently kind. Shoto knew that people often referred to him as 'The Ice Prince' or 'HellFire Junior'.
It wasn't long before Midoriya swam up to him and nudged his forehead, grinning widely. "Hey, Shoto! How are you today?"
"I'm fine. I found these for you; shells from all around the shoreline, you said you liked them, right?" Todoroki responded, daring a little smile of his own.
Midoriya blushed heavily and held out his hand to take the small pouch, fingering a few of the small, colorful shells before tying it to the belt at his waist. "Thank you, Shoto… I… I love them."
Todoroki took a moment to really look at Izuku like it was his first time seeing him all over again. He'd had a growth spurt, they both had, but the Mer was still shorter than him, muscled from his near-constant swimming, and as always, covered in freckles.
He also had far more scars on his arms, chest, and back than he'd had just a year before, but Shoto didn't mind, he had some too from weapons training. Observing him now, the only thing that had stayed entirely the same about his best friend were those large green eyes that were ever kind and captivating. "Come on… let's swim around for a bit. You always have so much energy."
The two played some of their usual games, swimming around each other and splashing in the water. But soon Todoroki noticed Midoriya's eyes darting around every so often with almost apprehension. "Is there something wrong?" he finally asked, hiding the worry that threatened to leak into his voice.
"Oh! No, it's… nothing… really. I just thought I heard something..." He answered.
Shoto could see the tension in Izuku's shoulders though and knew he was trying to keep him from worrying; Izuku simply wasn't any good at lying. He was about to call him out on it when Midoriya's eyes widened in panic. Almost immediately after, a red blur came barreling towards his head, only barely missing when Izuku yanked him below the water's surface.
Todoroki felt himself being roughly shoved away, his eyes picking up what looked like a vicious fight before his lungs desperately clawed for air.
"Shoto!" Kirishima shouted, swimming over quickly to pull him farther away from the scuffle.
"What the hell is happening?" he yelled back, fighting against the redhead with all of his strength. He could hear Midoriya shrieking and another angrier voice growling beneath the surface, their words spoken too hastily for him to understand everything. But he could tell that Izuku was in pain and it drove him wild with anger and fear.
Kirishima, though smaller than Todoroki, had the advantage in the ocean, and kept gaining ground. "It's another Mer… pissed about something or other… I don't know! We have to get out of the water. That one is bigger than Deku and if he wins he could come after you again!"
Shoto balked at the idea of Midoriya losing, visions of his mangled corpse flashing through his mind. He could see how their two tails were flipping around violently, the water around them holding a little tint of red from how they were scratching, biting and otherwise hitting each other.
All at once, the frantic movements slowed, and Todoroki felt his heart stop with fear.
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Lol I'm trying to remember what all I wrote for my stories but apparently I have a shit memory XD We'll see how it goes!
Let me know what you think! I do love comments so much!