.katzuki bakugo.

The reef was silent.

You'd spent hours trying to catch fish, moving carefully through the seaweed and crevices on the seabed. But it was one of those days when the sea seemed to mock you. The fish slipped just out of reach, swift and invisible. And you were tired, hungry, and your patience had run out.

You sat on a smooth rock, watching your tail sway underwater. You sighed, leaning back and closing your eyes. For a moment, just for a moment, you wished you weren't a mermaid. That you didn't have to hunt, swim, or survive.

Then you felt it.

A sudden current. Strong. As if something very large were approaching from the depths.

You sat up abruptly, on alert. Your eyes searching among the shadows.

And there he was.

A newt.

Large, with tanned skin, sandy-blond hair, and a dark gray, shark-like tail. His eyes were intense, like burning embers. In his hands, he carried a net woven from tough seaweed, teeming with glistening, still-living fish.

Your heart raced. He was one of them. Hunters.

You didn't know him. And he was looking at you as if he did.

Your first instinct was to run away. But you didn't.

He floated a few feet in front of you, silently watching you. His expression was hard to read. He didn't seem hungry. Nor hostile. But there was tension in his body, as if he were deciding what to do.

Then, with a brusque gesture, he threw the net full of fish at you. It floated up to your hands, almost violently, but without hitting you.

"What... what is this?" you asked, without touching it yet.

"Fish. Can't you see them?" he grunted. His voice was hoarse, as if he didn't talk much.

—Why are you giving them to me?

—You were hunting. You're not doing it right.

—I didn't ask you for help.

—I didn't offer it out of kindness.

Your eyes narrowed. You didn't know whether to feel insulted or worried.

—Then... why?

Katsuki seemed irritated by the question. He frowned, looked away, as if he found it difficult to explain something so simple.

-I don't know.