Bakugou kept his promise by returning to you everyday - at least on the days when you were the only one on the pier, otherwise he remained at a safe distance. Having him back in your life, as dramatic as that sounded, felt like the air returned to your lungs after being stifled by the possibility of reverting back to an existence without Bakugou. Luckily, he returned the feelings of contentment, settling back into a routine of laying in your lap as you answered his endless questions about mundane human activities or gently purring as you ran fingers through his damp hair.

After he'd gifted you with the oyster of pearls, you'd decided to just go with the flow and let things continue naturally and organically. If something else came up, you'd deal with it...but until then, you were content at knowing he thought of you as a friend - if there was more to it he kept that to himself, as did you - and recognized that he meant something to you, and you to him.

You'd also caved in on your curiosity and researched pearls, wondering exactly how much the misshapen mollusk was worth once you removed them all from the shell after it started to smell - though you cleaned it thoroughly and kept it on your bedside table. The cat sitting pleasantly in your lap hissed violently as you loudly cursed after doing some mental math with the help of some reference images and research websites.

"HOLY FUCK I COULD...THAT MUCH?! I could buy a new car with that!" If the websites were right, it was indeed a lot of money contained in the gift. "Fuck, I gotta buy him some nice sushi now..."

Despite the large sum, you knew the pearls wouldn't leave the safety of the inconspicuous box hidden in your sock drawer; they held too much emotional attachment to ever sell them, and you'd never forgive yourself if they were misplaced or stolen. Every once in a while you'd take them out to look at, smiling as they rolled around in the palm of your hand while thinking of all the effort Bakugou went through to find what he deemed the "best" out of all the oysters...and they were only for you.

Once things settled back down after his return, he also questioned you constantly about

teaching you to swim. You assumed it was yet another attempt on his part to even the odds in gift exchanges - though the pearls wholly overshadowed anything you'd given him already...or maybe he wanted to laugh at your pathetic attempts at swimming, flailing your arms like a wounded animal in stark contrast to his easy and graceful movements. Maybe it was a fear of looking moronic in front of Bakugou, or self-conscious at the prospect of wearing a bathing suit in front of him considering you weren't in the best shape of your life and he was, well, ripped as hell to put it mildly. You weren't unattractive by your own standards, but an extra trip to the gym wouldn't hurt. As insistent as he was, you continued to turn him down despite feeling guilty every time he hoisted himself out of the water for your sake while you hadn't dipped your toes in the ocean once.

After a while he seemed to get the hint that you'd accept his offer when you were ready, so he stopped pressing the issue. His pouty face was difficult to resist, though, making your eye twitch and your teeth grind knowing you'd give in sooner rather than later.

The day started as any other as you made your way to work and slogged through the familiar paperwork, the sounds of tapping keyboards and beeping printers echoing past your headphones. You'd finally taken the initiative to start looking for a new job the previous night - something more exciting, more within your field of interest - when you'd responded to several job listings in the area. Of course, you kept this a secret from everyone at the office knowing they might snitch to upper management and could easily let you go, leaving you unemployed until something solid rolled in.

Checking your email quickly after work yielded no replies yet, but only a day had passed so there was still plenty of time to look around and wait for an answer. As you changed out of your work clothes for something more beach-appropriate and comfortable, you dug through one of your drawers to find an old bathing suit - never worn, tags still hanging off the end.

"Ugh...how old is this?" you asked yourself, pulling it out of the drawer. Your clothing tastes had changed over the years, and this looked honestly hideous to you now. "Well, if he keeps bugging me about it I guess that's an excuse to go shopping for something new." Tossing the swimwear back into the drawer, you grabbed your backpack and Bakugou's dinner from the fridge before locking the door and heading down the familiar path towards the beach.

You leaned back on the warm wood, sitting comfortably on the pier, the familiar smell of the ocean filling your nose as your foot dangled lazily over the edge with the other tucked under you as you looked out at the slowly setting sun in the distance. It didn't take long for Bakugou to show up, but immediately you knew something was wrong, his expression one of anger and frustration as you met his gaze looking up at you from the water.

"Bakugou? What's the-"

"Get it off!" he nearly yelled, pulling his tail out of the water to show you the reason behind his exasperated expression. Wrapped around the end of his tail, winding in and out of his fins was a long strand of fishing line, tangled with knots and loops. He growled, obviously irate as his arms struggled against the line in an attempt to unwind it, but you knew it wouldn't break easily even for him.

"Fuck! Shit.." you gasped seeing the line digging into his scales and cutting into his hands as he tried to rip it off. "Can you get up here? I can try and get it off, OK?" Calling over the edge of the pier you dug in your backpack quickly, cursing to yourself as you looked for something sharp that could cut the line. "C'mon, c'mon...fuck, yes!" Your hand clutched around a small pocket knife covered in bits of dust from the bottom of your bag, rarely used since scissors were usually available when needed. Looking up at a thud next to you, Bakugou managed to pull himself up onto the pier, lifting his tail towards you, hands still clenched around a long loop of line trying to break it.

"Stop! Stop, you can't break it, it's meant to be cut, not broken," you said quickly, holding up your free hand for him to stop struggling. His breathing was ragged and he looked almost rabid, fangs visible and eyes like fire, a stark contrast from his normal demeanor. Looking down, you saw the line digging into his hands and...red, a slight tinge of crimson marking his fingers and – eyes following down – the end of his tail as well. He was bleeding. "J-just hold still, I'm going to cut it off. Don't move."

You moved closer, sitting next to him while trying to calm him down. Taking a piece of line in your hand, you brought the small knife closer, though Bakugou it made to move away from the blade. "Hey! Shh it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you, I just need to cut it so we can pull it off..." The stress of the situation was making him angry, so you had to go about this carefully. Your hand came down to his tail and patted it gently in an attempt to soothe him, your heart beating wildly at the idea that he was in pain from human trash.

He looked at you with eyes wide with panic and furrowed brows, but after a moment they softened as he let go of the twine in his hands, leaving behind horizontal indents and watered-down blood. Nodding, he finally muttered, "Trust you, " which you took as an invitation to start cutting.

You worked tediously, pulling small strand after strand away and placing it in your backpack to throw away properly. Some of his scales were ripped off – you were extra gentle around those areas – and there was a small tear in his tail fin, making him wince as you peeled the fishing line away. It took about fifteen agonizing minutes to finally remove all the line as you let out a heavy sigh and tossed the knife into your bag, zipping it up and sealing away the litter created by carelessness and a lack of respect for the ocean and those that used it as their home.

"Alright...I got it all...Bakugou..?" You looked up to see his detached expression, ruby eyes looking down at the the fading marks in the palms of his hands before deviating to his tail, skipping between old scars and new ones. Suddenly, his face returned to one of livid anger as he looked up at you.

"Why humans do this?" he spat out, arm gesturing out towards the open ocean. "Throw it here?!"

His outburst – as justified as it was – startled you. Unfortunately, you didn't have a satisfactory answer for him. "I don't know...humans can be very bad sometimes. They don't think what they do will hurt others, but that's obviously not true..." your voice trailed off as you placed one hand gingerly on his tail, fingers tracing around a new wound created from the twine. Bakugou flinched, but didn't move away. "I'm sorry, for what humans do. It's cruel, not just to you but to everything living in the ocean. And you suffer for it and, fucking hell-" now you were getting upset, feeding off the irritation radiating from him like steam. "You're hurt and it's stupid!"

A clawed hand suddenly lurched forward and grabbed you by the front of your shirt before pulling you to him like a magnet, the other arm coming up to wrap around your arms, his chin settling at the juncture where your neck met your shoulders. You felt his chest rise and fall shakily against your own, adjusting to the sudden closeness as your hands awkwardly fell to either side of his tail, palms flat against damp wood grain.

"Not mad...at you. You help. Others shit, but you good." Your foul mouth was finally paying off as he mirrored your curses, picking up on context clues and meanings over time. Though you couldn't see his face, you felt his jaw tense against your shoulder as he scoffed. "More scars..."

You abruptly pulled back from his grip – one of his hands still on your shirt, the other out to the side in surprise – and smashed his cheeks between the palms of your hands and stared him right in the eyes. His expression was one of shock at the sudden movement, eyes wide and mouth ajar as you spoke. "Listen to me. Whatever happens, whether it's from some dumb shark or stupid humans, no scars or whatever will make you less valuable as an individual, or less handsome, or less important. Understand?" It took a moment to register your own words, the thought of wanting to build him back up to his normal proud self overpowering any shame or embarrassment.

This was the second time you'd seen him blush, taken aback by the onslaught of words.

"Handsome...?" Bakugou questioned, the word unfamiliar on his tongue, though he seemed to recognize the majority of your words as praise on his behalf. You bit the inside of your cheek hard enough to to make you twitch at how utterly and completely stupid you were to let your train of thought flow so freely. Sure, of course he was handsome, beautiful, sublime even in appearance; but you'd never openly admitted to any of them - besides calling his tail "pretty" not long after you'd met - keeping any attraction locked away tightly as you figured out your feelings, debating whether or not to even vocalize the idea of falling head over heels to a man with a fish tail.

His free hand came up to grab your wrist as you were about to pull away from his face. "What does it mean?" You cursed his strength as he held you in place with a piercing gaze just inches from your own.

"N-nothing! It means uh.." You mumbled, trying to think of some quick lie to satisfy him. "It means you're...smart!"

He narrowed his eyes at your hesitant answer. "Why not say 'smart'...?" You could see the gears turning in his head, brows furrowed; well, at least he wasn't angry anymore. This was a battle you weren't going to win knowing he'd figured out you were trying to weasel out of a definition when you freely offered information at every opportunity. "Tell me..." he demanded through gritted teeth.

"Dammit...it means good-looking!" you finally admitted. Everything fell eerily silent as the words left your mouth, looking at Bakugou through squinted eyes for a reaction. It didn't take long to register his expression, but when it did his mouth split into a shit-eating grin, fangs glistening and eyes full of mischief.

"I'm handsome!" he declared proudly as you finally pulled your hands away from his face. You groaned, knowing Bakugou was exactly the type to dangle this admission over your head every chance he got, enjoying your flustered face; though he'd toned down the bombardment of pranks that littered your early meetings and conversations, he still savored your mild annoyance at his occasional antics of tickling or flicking water in your face.

"Yeah, yeah...god dammit," you sighed with resignation, but didn't get a chance to lament your confession before Bakugou pulled your face towards his again, countenance revealing his inflated ego.

"You think I'm handsome..." Bakugou's voice dropped a noticeable octave, the smirk on his face suiting his features far more than it should as your face felt uncharacteristically warm in his hand. "Even with...?" Looking from you back down towards his tail, his expression fell slightly, confidence waning as red eyes flitted to the new wounds that would take time to heal.

Just as he picked up on your vocabulary, you'd adopted some of his idiosyncrasies as well, scoffing under his grip. "They make you look badass and strong, like you've been in a bunch of fights. They're the opposite of ugly." At this he perked back up, letting go of your face to cross his arms over his puffed-out chest.

Though, you were grateful for the change in attitude - you'd much rather have Bakugou smug and happy than angry and frustrated - it was still incredibly embarrassing knowing he was now aware you thought he was physically attractive...especially since he was now flexing for you, showing off his strong arm and back muscles, smirking and eyeing you knowingly as your cheeks burned.

"You better stop before I shove you off this pier," you spit out through gritted teeth, cutting your eyes away from the handsome merman.

"Tch, you not do that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

The challenge was now on the table, and you accepted hoping to knock him back down a peg. Leaning forward, you shoved him - just a little - towards the edge of the pier. His smirk remained as he adjusted his tail to hang off the pier and pushed your shoulder in retaliation. It was turning into a shoving match, you both pushing and pulling on each other as his eyes lit up with amusement.

"Just...! You sneaky shit!" One of his hands was mashed against your face, the other stretching out the neck of your shirt while you pushed on his shoulder, the other on his wrist trying to wrestle it away from you.

The main problem with this struggle was that you'd forgotten how strong - and cunning - he was.

Bakugou's expression faltered for only a second before returning to the familiar mischievous smirk. Before you knew what was happening, he started to tilt sideways, never taking his eyes off you as his weight started to pull you forward, his grip on your shirt never loosening.

"N-no Bakugou no..!" you quickly sputtered against the palm of his hand that halfway covered your mouth after realizing his plan.

"Yes...we swim!" was the last thing he said as he toppled over the edge of the pier, dragging you with him.

"FUCKING SH-!"

Your words were cut off as you hit the water, suddenly completely surrounded by bubbles and darkness and disorienting movement. You couldn't breathe, no words came out as you opened your mouth, feeling burning water shoot up your nose and down your throat, hands grasping at nothing as your clothes weighed you down, panic hitting you like a suffocating nightmare.

A hand grasped your wrist, and pulled you towards the light.

As soon as your head sprang free of the water, you immediately started coughing, trying to suck in a breath of air while expelling the water in your nose and lungs as a pair of arms wrapped around your torso held you in place. Salt stung your eyes until you blinked most of it out, wincing as you attempted to regain your senses.

"You safe," a husky, familiar voice whispered in your ear. Looking down through the water, you saw an orange, black, and gold tail swishing beneath you while your own legs floated like limp noodles. You slowly came down from the fear of thinking you were about to drown knowing that Bakugou held you with a firm grip. It did little to abate your agitation, though.

"You...asshole! Pulling me into the fucking water, you sneaky bastard..." His chest pressed against your back, sturdy and unbending. You felt the vibrations as he laughed lightly in your ear.

"You took too long." Floating easily, weightless as the water lapped against your arms and chest, you sighed heavily suddenly feeling very tired.

"I don't know if you've noticed at any point, but humans wear special clothes for swimming. These clothes I'm wearing now? They're heavy and hard to move in, you ding-dong." A webbed hand poised on your stomach pulled at the fabric experimentally, watching over your shoulder as it moved sluggishly through the water.

"Why wear clothes? I not wear clothes." He started to lift up your shirt but you quickly slapped his hands away - as quick as you could underwater, anyway - until they settled back down on top of your shirt.

"I have to wear clothes! God dammit, don't ask why I just do, alright?" Differences in anatomy and the human custom of modesty that animals - and merpeople - ignored was not a conversation you wanted to get into right now. Before he could protest, an unfamiliar voice disturbed the two of you.

"Um, hello?" the voice asked from somewhere, unseen above you on the pier.

"Fuck, shit-" you cursed. "You need to hide!" Bakugou understood as he quickly pushed you forward through the water to awkwardly grab hold of one of the pillars supporting the pier before disappearing silently under the veil of darkness. Hardly a moment later, two strangers appeared above the pier to look down at you.

"We, uh, heard splashing and yelling over here! Are you alright down there?" a woman above you asked. She had short hair the color of cotton candy with contrasting eyes as dark as coal.

"Of course not, no one takes a leisurely swim this far away from the beach, Ashido," the other woman responded. She looked less friendly with dark purple hair cut sharp below her jawline.

The woman apparently named Ashido shrugged. "I dunno! Maybe some people do?"

"Um, hi," you projected, looking up at the two strangers. "I f-fell...yeah, I fell off the pier on accident!" The lie was terrible but it was the best you could come up with in the moment as your eyes darted quickly under the pier to see Bakugou peering at you, hidden from view in the shadows.

"Yeah, we figured something like that. Why the hell isn't there a ladder or something over here...? Whatever," the purple-haired woman muttered more to herself than to you. "Do you need help or not?"

Looking quickly between Bakugou and the two women, you made up your mind to accept their help considering the circumstances. You were still pissed at him for pulling him into the water, and this might be your only chance to get out while avoiding an argument knowing how stubborn he was. "Do you guys