Chapter Text
Most merfolk liked humans for eating. Izuku liked humans for watching- a forbidden hobby he had worked hard to keep a secret from his father. Izuku had always been too small to participate in hunts- his overprotective father said he was too small for most things. He hadn’t expected little Izuku to have such big secrets. Secrets like his secret lagoon, so close to the human village where he could see them coming and going from the town. Secrets like the human boy who also came there, who Izuku swam just a bit closer to every day, unable to resist his curiosity.
The lagoon was small and difficult to reach by both land and sea. Izuku could only get in when the tides were high, swimming through a tiny hole in the cliffs. The path down from land was steep and rocky, so no humans ever tried to get down to the water. Except Izuku’s secret human of course. The human he was now expected to hunt and eat, now that his secrets had been uncovered. He hadn’t been as careful or sneaky as he’d thought he was.
Izuku had made up his mind- he was going to warn the human. He’d escaped his room where he’d been locked up and snuck into the lagoon. The tides were low, so he had to drag himself through the cave tunnel instead of swim. It was frightening and it hurt, but he knew hunting his secret human would hurt more.
They had never spoken to each other. Izuku made sure the human didn’t know he was there watching him. He was about the same size as Izuku, which Izuku hoped meant they were about the same age. Izuku didn’t know much about how humans worked, but the more he watched the human, the more he felt they were a lot the same. The human sometimes jumped in the water and swam around. Izuku hadn’t known humans could get in water without their boats! And the human caught fish, or tried to, and ate them. Izuku ate fish too! But he was a better fisher than the human was.
There were differences too. Like how the human had yellow hair, while Izuku's was green. That made sense to Izuku- yellow like the sand for the creature that lived on land, green like seaweed for the creature that lived in the water. The human was usually around during the day, while Izuku and other mers tended to hunt and see best at night. Maybe that's why the human's eyes were red. But then, Izuku knew other mers with red eyes too. He wished he could ask him about it, but that was a rule he knew better than to break.
Perhaps the thing that was the most similar between them was the way they both looked over their shoulders as they snuck into the lagoon. It was the human’s secret as much as it was Izuku’s.
Izuku reached the lagoon, breathless and shaking. The human was there on the rocks, the hem of his shorts wet and showing that he’d been wading in the water. Izuku wondered what he was doing as he swam closer. He worried about letting the human see him, even if it was to warn him not to come back to the lagoon anymore. That thought made Izuku sad as well. Even if they weren’t really friends, he was going to miss his secret human.
Maybe he could use the siren song to make the human go away, instead of drowning him? Izuku had never tried the song before. He didn’t like the way it sounded, or the way it tickled his throat when he tested a note or two. If the human was a smart human- Izuku was sure that he was- he would know what the song was and run away and never come back. Then Izuku wouldn’t have to hunt him or hurt him.
Izuku started singing, his voice uncertain and wobbly. The human didn’t look up, so he tried singing louder. Then louder. It was like he hadn’t even heard him! Maybe Izuku’s secret human wasn’t as smart as he’d thought? What was it going to take to scare him off?
Izuku swam closer until he was lurking in the rocks just behind the human. Maybe if he just scared him normally that would be enough?
“Boo!” Izuku said, popping his head up out of the water. The human didn’t turn around. “Why won’t you listen to me?” Izuku grabbed his ankle, finally getting a reaction.
The human startled and turned. He only looked surprised for a moment, then bent down and grabbed a rope next to Izuku that trailed into the water. He yanked on, pulling up the net that he hadn’t noticed laid out beneath him. Izuku screamed as the net closed in and pulled him out of the water. The human carried him, thrashing and screaming, back to the shore. He dumped Izuku on the sand of the small beach where Izuku struggled against the ropes.
“Gotcha.” The human smiled.
“Let me go!” Izuku screamed. “Put me back!”
“You were trying to eat me, weren’t you?” The human held Izuku still, preventing him from entangling himself further.
“N-No! I was trying not to eat you!” Izuku wailed.
The human squinted at Izuku’s mouth and gave a small shake of his head. He pointed at his ear. “Can’t hear you. Talk slower.”
Izuku froze. He did sound a bit strange, but it wasn’t hard to understand him. “You… You can’t hear?” Despite everything, he felt a wave of relief. “You can’t hear!”
The human scowled at him. “Why have you been watching me?”
Izuku flushed with shame and embarrassment. All this time he thought he’d been so careful, avoiding both his father and the human, but he’d been noticed by both of them. He was doubly stupid, not having avoided either of them. Now it made him wonder why he had done all of this in the first place.
“I… wanted to be your friend.” Izuku answered, deciding he might as well start being honest now.
“Huh.” The human said, clearly not believing him. Then he shrugged and pulled on the net again, lifting Izuku and swinging him up against his back.
“Put me down!” Izuku screamed, fighting against the net again. “Put me back in the water!”
The human couldn’t hear him, so he hit his back as best he could even if it twisted him up in the net even more. The human was taking him away from the ocean! Up the trail, to the human town.
“No! Please!” Izuku begged, trying to get his attention again. “If-If my dad finds out you took me, he’ll hunt your whole village! You have to put me back!”
The human glanced over his shoulder once to see what the fuss was about.
“Please.” Izuku begged.
He only got a frown in return and for the rest of the way, Izuku tucked his face down and cried.