Archive of Our Own

“Fucking hell, Itadori! How many times do we have to go over this? Shift to your left and lean forward! Left!”

It burns. There’s salt in his nose, and it fucking burns. Yuuji forces air through his nostrils and scrubs furiously at his nose, clumsily hanging off the side of his barely-used surfboard. 

“I heard you the first fifty times, Kugisaki. I don’t think screaming it in my ear is gonna help.”

Kugisaki scowls down at him from her own board, sitting with one leg tucked and the other hanging off into the ocean water. She mimes pushing up her sleeve, then growls, “Maybe I should beat it into you, then.”

“Mm, don’t threaten me with a good time, nrgh—” 

Uselessly attempting to climb back onto his board, Yuuji slips off the side, nearly flipping the thing completely over. Another wave decides to hit at that moment, spraying more saltwater into his nose.

The cackling he’s met with does nothing to soothe his stinging sinuses nor his hurt pride. 

He eventually clambers back onto the board, swinging a leg over to straddle it, and then he feels it again. A weight on the back of his neck, like the air along his spine has frozen and condensed. Yuuji whips his head around, searching for — something, someone. He’s not sure.

For as long as he’s been learning how to surf, this feeling never fails to hit him. This chill, this distinct feeling of eyes on him, and it’s nothing short of unsettling. Every time he looks for the culprit he’s met with the same disinterested seafoam waves, the occasional fellow surfer too engrossed in their own technique to give a rat’s ass about Yuuji’s. 

It’s the same view that greets him now, except—

“Did you see that?” 

“Hah?” Kugisaki brushes wet auburn strands from her face and leans forward, following Yuuji’s line of sight. “What am I looking for?”

“There was a— I don’t know. I didn’t see what it was, but there was a splash over there.” Yuuji points a finger towards the red buoy bobbing in time to the rolling ocean waves. 

“Maybe the sharks have started coming in early. They saw a tasty pink shrimp squabbling at the surface and came running,” she teases, reaching over to flick a rosy lock of his hair. 

Yuuji huffs and rolls his eyes. “At least they recognize quality when they see it. One bite of that scrawny ass of yours, and they’d spit you right back out.”

“Those sharks would be lucky to get a taste of this ass!” she retorts. She pretends to inspect her nails, and says, “I’m a prime piece of meat, after all.”

Yuuji snorts. “What meat, flatty?”

She whirls on him, face turning a bright tomato red, and storms out, “TCH! WHO’D LISTEN TO YOUR OPINION, HUH? YOU’VE GOT BIGGER TITS THAN MOST GIRLS, ITADORI! YOUR OPINION CAN’T BE TRUSTED!”

At one point in his life, those words would’ve hurt Yuuji. Would’ve thrown him into a spiral, leaving Kugisaki floundering, trying to figure out how to comfort him — she tries her best, but she’s real shit at that. It’s sweet that she tries. 

Now, though, he just laughs. A round, full laugh from deep within his belly, which only frustrates Kugisaki further.

She clicks her tongue, then leans forward on her board, laying flat on her stomach. “You ready to head back? It’s supposed to start storming at some point. Better get outta here before the waves get too intense.”

Yuuji shakes his head, staring determinedly out at the waves. “Nah, I’m gonna practice a bit more. You go ahead, I’ll head back in a bit.”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own?”

“I can take of myself. Go on ahead.”

Kugisaki doesn’t move to start paddling, just scowls back at him. 

“What?”

“Don’t be a dumbass, alright? The second you see a gray cloud, get the fuck out of the water. Got it?”

Yuuji groans. “Alright mom, I got it. Now go, I don’t think my ears can take any more of your screeching. And you need to get ready for your date.” 

Kugisaki squints at him, slowly turning back towards the shore. “If I don’t hear from you by the time it starts raining, I’ll call the damn coast guard. I swear it!”

“Ooh please, I love a man in uniform.”

“I’ll tell them about that time you went to Todo’s pool party, and he—”

“AHT-AHT!” Yuuji gasps dramatically, “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me. Come home before it storms and you won’t have to find out.”

Yuuji kicks up water at her. “Alright, alright, I get it! Go get ready for your girlfriend, already!”

Kugisaki sprays water back at him but relents, paddling away with a grumbled “Whatever, idiot.” 

Yuuji looks up at the pastel blue sky, notes that there’s not a cloud in sight. The forecasters probably got it wrong. He’s got plenty of time. 

***

Yuuji never said he was smart. In fact, he makes it a point to remind everyone he’s an absolute moron. Frequently. Because, really, how much more stupid can he get?

Another wall of water crashes violently into his frame, and this time, he’s pulled down, thrown forward, flipping and twisting so ferociously the surfboard leash wraps around his leg and bites into his skin. Another oppressive force of Poseidon’s rage bulldozes into him and Yuuji’s taking water into his lungs, now. 

Shit, he’s— He’s gonna—

Yuuji thrashes desperately, extremities brutally slicing through water in a manner so uncoordinated, there’s no way it’s doing anything to move him towards the surface — wherever the fuck that is, because yeah, up isn’t a concept that survives being shaken like a ragdoll, lost to the whims of the waves. Seeking air is impossible because opening his eyes does nothing to help orient him; the sky is dark, and he can’t see shit. His body forces him to gasp in water without his permission, even though he knows it won’t help, it’ll only make things worse, and he’s gonna die, he’s gonna fucking die, all over some fucking surfing practice, how can he be so stupid—

Another crash, another vicious flip forward, and Yuuji’s head hits something. Hard. The pain is sharp, radiates down his spine, and stings in a way that makes him laugh at his earlier complaints about his sinuses. When Kugisaki told him to home… 

To— To home? To home. His thoughts aren…’t working…

There’s a flash of white, blue, and then Yuuji’s vision is black. It’s black and he’s dead. 

He’s dead.

***

Not that Yuuji has ever thought about what happens after narrowly being saved from drowning, but he didn’t expect the experience to be like this. He assumed it would be like waking up: slowly, with each sense rousing one by one — hearing, then touch, smell. He’d taste the salt on his tongue and then finally get the energy to open his eyes to see. 

That is not how it works. 

Perhaps it is a bit like dreaming. That is, if you count nightmares — those vulnerable instances of unconsciousness where your dream self has the ingenious idea to jump off a cliff, and suddenly you’re hurtling through obscurity, thrust into consciousness with such bone-chilling velocity that you’re left gasping for air.

It’s what he’s trying to do now, thrusting up from his horizontal position on cold, wet stone, desperately attempting to fill his lungs with blessed, blessed oxygen. He feels something slide off of his leg, followed by a splash, and then he turns to the side to cough up saltwater.

Ugh. His throat aches, and a shiver racks his body as the last of the liquid leaves his chest. Yuuji feels his own heartbeat in his ears, and the world spins for a second before he’s able to completely fill up his lungs uninhibited. 

Once he takes in enough air to settle his erratic heart, Yuuji takes in his surroundings. 

He’s in… a grotto? That’s what these are called, right? He’s surrounded by jagged rock on all sides, a few scattered clumps of various-sized boulders surrounding a pool of turquoise water. The roof of the cave looks like it’s melting, stalactites dripping down in points, reaching out in a fruitless attempt to touch the cave floor. On his right, the stone walls fall away to reveal the still-draining sky. Though, the weather seems much tamer than when he was caught up in it. 

Shit. How the hell did he end up here? And how far away from the mainland is he? 

A spike of chilling anxiety strikes his heart. He’s lost. He’s lost and alone and aching as a result of his own moronic decisions. 

He’s such a fucking idiot.

Yuuji scrambles to stand, wobbling so wildly on unsteady legs he has to lean all of his weight on the nearest boulder to right himself. He needs to get out of this cavern and see if the beach he was ripped away from is visible. Yuuji straightens, takes a step forward, and nearly topples over into the pool.

There’s a gasp, a splash, and Yuuji realizes, as he leans back onto the stone, that neither of those was of his own doing. His head whips towards the pool, eyes honed in on the ring of waves rippling the surface. They stretch out from a point behind a tall stalagmite surrounded by water. 

“Who—” Yuuji swallows and winces at the scratch in his throat. “Who’s there?”

Dead silence answers him.

Yuuji cranes his neck, trying to see around the curve of the mound, but the minimal change in viewpoint reveals nothing. 

Yuuji huffs out a wry laugh. 

He’s losing his mind. Didn’t he read somewhere that drinking seawater makes you go crazy? 

“Alright, Yuuji.” If he’s going crazy, might as well lean into it and talk to himself, right? “Get it together. You’re gonna stand up, walk out of here, and figure out where the hell you are. Okay? Okay.” He pauses, then, more quietly, “Okay.”

He straightens once again and focuses all of his attention on his feet, willing them to stop trembling and keep balance. One step and he promptly slips on the wet stone floor. 

Yuuji yelps as his feet fly out from under him, feels himself falling backward, and braces for the sharp, impending impact on his skull.

But instead of harsh, unyielding stone, his head meets something soft and… warm? Something else wraps around his waist and pulls him sharply into the source of this strange heat. 

Yuuji opens his eyes — he didn’t even realize he’d squeezed them shut — and stares up into the entirety of the night sky, encapsulated within wide, concerned eyes. 

There’s a man here. A shirtless man with strands of obsidian hair falling down to tickle against Yuuji’s flushed cheeks. 

Yuuji sucks in a sharp breath as the hand previously on his waist reaches up to hold his face, a thumb softly tracing the curved scar on his cheekbone.

“O-okay?” the man croaks out in the strangest accent Yuuji has ever heard. “You… okay?”

Yuuji opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. The longer he stares at this man, the more embarrassed he feels, and the more his cheeks heat. 

Holy shit, he’s hot. He’s so fucking hot, Yuuji doesn’t know what to do with himself. If this is a hallucination, he doesn’t care. He’ll gladly live within this fantasy if it means he can see more of this man, consequences be damned.

The man’s brows knit together, and he croaks out, “Can… hear me?” before turning to inspect Yuuji’s ear.

Yuuji finds his voice, then. And figures out how his limbs work as well, scrambling out of the man’s hold to sit up on the shallow edge of the pool. 

“Y-Yes!” he squeaks. “Yes, I’m— okay. And can hear you, yes. Sorry. Um—”

The man pushes back into the deeper end of the pool, and Yuuji finally takes in the whole of his form — or, well, from the chest up. 

He is… chiseled. Strong arms, broad shoulders. Yuuji’s eyes trace up the line of his neck, around the curve of pale round lips and a soft, wide nose. Those eyes are so intense, framed with dark lashes and dark circles that only highlight those mesmerizingly deep blue irises. Yuuji’s eyes dart all around, taking in every detail, but catch when he sees—

“Your ears!” Yuuji blurts and immediately winces. 

Holy shit, he has no damn tact. 

The man reaches up to touch what Yuuji assumes are ears, but… They look more like fins. The usual curved edge of the lobe stretches out at four different angles, and the pale beige of the man’s skin bleeds to blue at the ends of the fin-ears. 

The man’s eyes go wide as saucers, like he just realized what his ears look like. He blushes furiously and claps his hands on either side of his head, trying to cover the points of interest. 

“N-no! I’m so sorry,” Yuuji clambers out. “Oh my god, that was so rude, I’m so sorry. It’s fine, really. I’ve just never seen that before, and—”

The man doesn’t look placated at all. He pushes further away, and when he does, Yuuji notices the movement of white and blue underneath the water. 

What—?

Yuuji stares down into the water, crawling forward to get a better view. He reaches forward one more step, but the edge of the pool abruptly drops, and Yuuji falls forward into the deep.

Hello, saltwater in Yuuji’s nose. It’s been a while. How’ve you been?

Warm arms wrap around Yuuji and pull him up for air as Yuuji thrashes his arms and legs about. As he resurfaces, Yuuji realizes that the solid form he’d been kicking against is not a pair of human legs. It’s not legs at all, it’s—

“You’re a mermaid!” Yuuji gasps out. “Or— Merman? You have a tail! And fin-ears! Oh my god!”

“Shhhhh!” the man — merman? — scolds, clasping a hand over Yuuji’s mouth. “Quiet, please. Don’t know… who is around.”

Yuuji stares up at the merman with eyes so wide he fears they may pop clean out of his skull. He nods his head robotically, and the merman hesitantly drops his hand.

“You’re a merman,” Yuuji whispers.

The merman chuckles at that, entire face brightening with it, and it’s so unexpected that Yuuji can only laugh along with him.

“Yes,” the man says. “I’m… merman. My name… Yuuta.”

Yuuji nods dumbly. “Yuuta… I’m Yuuji.”

Okay. A merman named Yuuta. Cool. Coolcoolcool. 

Yuuta swims forward and deposits Yuuji back onto the stone edge of the pool. After a pause, deliberation clear in the features of his face, Yuuta jumps up to sit on the edge next to him.

Yuuta places his hands behind himself and watches Yuuji’s face as he lifts the entire length of his tail from the water.

It’s… beautiful. Mostly white with a shift of blue when it catches the light just right. There are patches of dark blue scales scattered across the length of the tail, reaching down to the wide fin.

Yuuji feels like he’s drowning again, all the air sucked out of his lungs. He didn’t know hallucinations could be so vivid.

Yuuta cocks his head and peers over at Yuuji. “You can… touch. If you want.”

Yuuji’s eyes dart up to Yuuta’s and back to the tail. “Are you— Are you sure?”

Yuuta nods, a small smile on his face. “Sure.”

Yuuji hesitates, hand poised awkwardly between them for a moment. This is so surreal, and for a split second, Yuuji has the feeling that if he actually touches him, actually acknowledges this gorgeous, breathtaking creature next to him, he’ll disappear. He’ll disappear and then Yuuji will have to come to terms with the reality of this terrifying situation — lost and alone.

Yuuta huffs a breath and grabs Yuuji’s hand, bringing it down to press into the scales on Yuuta’s lap. 

It feels… like a fish. Duh, Yuuji. It’s a damn fishtail. 

Yuuji drags his fingers down, feeling the edges and curves of each thin scale under his fingertips. 

“You’re gorgeous,” Yuuji whispers without thinking. 

He doesn’t take it back, though. It’s true — this man, even without the tail, is one of the most attractive people he’s ever seen in his life. Almost ethereal in his beauty, otherworldly.

And, well. Yuuji supposes Yuuta is from another world.

“C-Can I?” Yuuta asks, pointing to Yuuji’s wetsuit-clad legs.

“Oh, s-sure!”

Yuuji pulls his legs up and leans back on his hands. 

Yuuta doesn’t hesitate.

Even through the thick material of Yuuji’s wetsuit, he can feel the warmth of Yuuta’s skin as he drags his hand up and down the expanse of Yuuji’s legs, around his feet. It lights Yuuji up, makes his own skin burn in turn, and Yuuji quickly looks away, knowing he must be blushing a brilliant crimson at Yuuta’s touch.

“Pretty,” Yuuta murmurs, and when Yuuji tilts his head back to look at him, Yuuta’s looking right into his eyes. 

Jesus. Yuuji’s heart is hammering.

“Are— Are you real?” 

It’s a ridiculous question; a hallucination would never admit to its own existence. Still, Yuuji has to say it, has to hear the confirmation.

Yuuta laughs again, pulling his hand away, and Yuuji refuses to acknowledge the disappointment he feels at the loss of contact.

“Would you… believe? If I say yes?”

“I don’t know,” Yuuji confesses. “Tell me something I don’t know. Something I wouldn’t be able to make up on my own. Mermaid things. I don’t know.”

Yuuta’s smile wobbles, like he’s holding back another laugh. “Okay…” He tips his head to the side, thinking. “Hmm… I eat fish. Oysters are… favorite. Sometimes squid, but tricky catch.”

Yuuji shakes his head. “I could’ve come up with that on my own. Something else.”

“Umm… Oh!” A series of sounds Yuuji could never dream of emulating escape Yuuta’s throat — a series of clicks, soft wails, groans, a piercing whistle. He smiles at Yuuji’s expression. “Is… my language. Not human.”

Yuuji nods. “Yeah, okay. Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to come up with that.” 

Arms wrapped tightly around his legs, Yuuji finally allows the reality of the situation to settle within him. 

He’s with a fucking merman. Okay. Okay? Is this situation okay? Yuuji knows nothing about mermaids. Aren’t there tales about them luring men to their deaths? They sing pretty songs to sailors, only to sink sharp teeth into the fresh meat. 

Is Yuuji… in danger?

“Tell me… something, too.” At Yuuji’s questioning look, Yuuta clarifies, “Something about humans.”

“Oh, uh…” 

He shouldn’t jump to conclusions — Yuuta hasn’t given Yuuji any reason to believe he’d harm him. Best to move forward with guarded curiosity.

Yuuji considers for a moment. “We can… make fire.”

Yuuta tilts his head to the side, brows drawn tightly together, and it’s so reminiscent of a puppy — with those wide, down-turned eyes — Yuuji feels the sudden, ridiculous urge to pull him in and hold him safely in his grasp, against his chest. 

“F-fire?”

Ah! Of course — he wouldn’t know what fire is, Yuuji.

“It’s— It’s like, um… really hot light. It can hurt you easily, but it’s also really useful. We use it to cook food and warm our homes. People have figured out fancy things to do with it, but I’m not smart enough to understand, let alone explain them. Sorry.”

Yuuta shakes his head. “Is okay.” He scoots closer. “Tell more.”

Yuuji’s leg is now pressed into the side of Yuuta’s tail, and their shoulders brush. It’s incredibly distracting, and Yuuji needs to take a moment to grasp onto his attention, dig his fingers into the meat of it and force himself to replay Yuuta’s words in his mind in order to formulate a coherent response. 

“Umm…” He looks over at Yuuta, and his breath hitches at how close their faces are. Yuuta’s looking at him with this expression… Yuuji doesn’t know what to call it, but whatever it is causes butterflies to stir in his belly. “Uh, I—”

“ITADORI!”

The two of them whip their heads towards the cave opening, ears straining. 

“ITADORI YUUJI, I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU IF I FIND YOU WASHED UP DEAD! I SWEAR TO GOD!”

“Kugisaki,” Yuuji gasps. 

He hops up and finds that he finally has enough strength to stand on his own, carefully steps toward the cave opening. Peering around the wall’s edge, Yuuta can see the beach not far off — he could easily walk back if he was careful about climbing over the slick rock surrounding the grotto’s entrance.

“ITADOOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIIIII!”

There’s a splash behind him, and Yuuji turns to see Yuuta backing away in the pool. 

“Go!” the merman hisses. “Don’t— Don’t tell—”

Yuuji watches Yuuta’s horror-stricken face — wide eyes, color draining from his skin — and it’s then that it hits him: Yuuji was never the one with cause for concern. Yuuta is. If he had saved someone else, someone more concerned with the accolades of being the first to discover the mythical mermaid in the flesh rather than treating Yuuta as a person… 

“I won’t tell anyone,” Yuuji reassures. “I promise.”

Kugisaki yells his name again, louder and much closer than before.

Yuuta moves backwards, eyes trained on the cave opening. “Please. Go!”

Panic pierces Yuuji’s chest. He can’t leave, he can’t. What if this is the last time they’ll see each other? He doesn’t want to lose him. He wants to know more, wants to learn more about mermaids, more about Yuuta. 

“I want to see you again,” Yuuji pleads. “Tomorrow. We can meet here at noon. Please?”

Yuuta’s eyes flick between his and the outside. “Noon?”

“When the sun is in the middle of the sky.”

Yuuta gives a short nod as Kugisaki bellows out another colorful threat. 

“Okay, okay! Tomorrow! Go!”

Yuuji turns back towards the opening and takes a deep breath. 

He’ll see him tomorrow. This isn’t the end. As long as Kugisaki’s empty threats remain empty, he’ll see Yuuta again soon. 

Steeling himself, Yuuji steps out into the open and braces for the impending blow to his eardrums. 

***

Over the next several months, Yuuji watches the seasons change from the opening of the grotto. They see each other regularly now. Every time Yuuji has a spare moment, can get away from Kugisaki and all of his other nosy friends — Todo really loves to cling, literally —, he races to the grotto to talk to Yuuta until the sky matches the color of the merman’s eyes.

He’s real! Either that or the doctors that checked Yuuji over after the storm failed to catch his hallucinatory symptoms. Yuuji doesn’t really care either way. 

They spend their time talking about each other’s worlds, about each other. Yuuta has a sister that he hasn’t seen in years after a shark attacked his family. He believes she’s still out there somewhere, but he’s given up searching. It became too painful.

In turn, Yuuji tells him about his family — the parents he never knew and the grandfather that stayed with him until his mid-teens. Today, Yuuji remembered that photographs were a thing, and he excitedly shoves the picture of his parents’ wedding in Yuuta’s face.

Yuuta’s eyes go cross-eyed before he swims back, and gets a good look at the picture. He’s silent for so long, Yuuji starts to feel awkward. 

But then he asks, “What are they doing?”

Yuuta’s Japanese has improved a lot, too. They decided to not even try teaching Yuuji Yuuta’s language — there’s no way he’d be able to recreate those sounds. But Yuuji still likes to ask Yuuta to speak to him in his native tongue, every now and then. He loves to hear the unique sounds only Yuuta can create, to observe the ease with which he speaks in silent awe. 

Yuuji turns the photograph back around to remind himself what’s going on.

“They’re kissing. At a wedding, you kiss after you say your vows.”

“What’s kissing for?”

At this, Yuuji draws up short. He’s never really thought about what kissing is for. It just… is. It’s a thing!

“It’s… Uhhhhh…” He rubs his chin as he thinks of an adequate explanation. “It’s a way for humans to show affection. How they let each other know they like each other.”

Yuuta looks back at the photograph, leans in closer to study it. After another moment, he asks, “Can we do kissing?”

Yuuji lets out an unflattering squeak, and hurriedly clears his throat. “Ah… Yuuta, that’s… Only people who really like each other do that…”

Yuuji’s definitely blushing. He can’t look Yuuta in the eye, because if he’s truly being honest… He wants it. To kiss him. Has thought about it more times than he can count, and isn’t that embarrassing? Daydreaming about a half-man, half-fish with hearts in his eyes like a damn schoolboy lost in his own fantasy world. 

Yuuta’s a fucking fish. Half-fish. Whatever. Yuuji’s not supposed to be attracted to him. Not in that way. Not in the ways that follow him to bed, that wrap around his skin and push his hand beneath the band of his underwear. 

God, he’s pathetic.

“I really like you,” Yuuta confesses easily. Says it matter-of-factly, without a single hint of hesitance in his voice, like it’s a given. Like it wouldn’t even occur to him to be embarrassed about his feelings. 

Yuuji gapes. “That’s… Yuuta I don’t think you understand…”

Yuuta swims closer, until he’s floating snugly between Yuuji’s thighs, brackets his arms on either side of Yuuji, and lifts himself up. He peers down at him, so close their noses nearly touch. 

“I really like you, Yuuji,” he repeats in a whisper. “I want to kiss you. Please let me kiss you.”

Yuuji gulps.

Holy hell, how can this guy just say these things? And like that.

“O-okay,” Yuuji whispers and holds his breath as Yuuta leans in.

The first brush of lips is tentative, hesitant — in complete contrast to Yuuta’s earlier confidence. It’s so brief, Yuuji sourly thinks There. He’s grossed out, and I can finally let this go. But Yuuta does it again, presses supple lips to Yuuji’s a little firmer and inhales sharply through his nose. A hand threads through Yuuji’s hair and pulls him further in, while Yuuji’s hands instinctively wrap around Yuuta’s neck. 

Yuuta kisses hungrily — like Yuuji’s lips are the last drops of water in a desert, like he’ll die if their lips part for more than a breath. 

It drives Yuuji crazy. Fills him with a strange mix of adrenaline, warmth, affection, and undeniable lust. It makes him hate the barrier of the wetsuit between them as he gasps into the next kiss and Yuuta’s tongue slides against his own.

Fuck. This… This is… Fuck.

Yuuji squirms, feels himself getting wet in a way that has nothing to do with the water and everything to do with the way Yuuta gently bites down on his lip and tugs.

A moan floats out into the room, bounces off the cavern walls in an absolutely lewd echo that forces Yuuji to hear how absolutely wrecked he is. 

Yuuta pulls away, drawing a pitiful little whine from Yuuji before he can stop himself.

The merman’s eyes are blown wide, chest rising and falling with each deep intake of breath. He keeps staring down at Yuuji’s lips, looks like all he wants to do is lean right back in, and god Yuuji wants him to. Again and again and again.

Yuuji knows how ridiculous that sounds. How ridiculous this all is. This was a mistake — a blessed, beautiful, sexy mistake — and they shouldn’t do this again. Because that was the best fucking kiss Yuuji’s ever had in his miserable life, and it was with a goddamn merman. This is wrong; it goes against the laws of nature or whatever. 

They shouldn’t do this again. They shouldn’t.

***

They do it again. And again. And again and again and again. 

Yuuji has to constantly keep chapstick on him because holy hell do they make out a lot. Every greeting is met with a peck, every farewell preceded by a desperate need to memorize the taste of each other, to carry the flavor on their tongues throughout their time apart. 

Earth continues its cycle around the sun, the ocean water begins to warm, and throughout this time, Yuuji has come to accept this… arrangement. Relationship? He doesn’t know, but he’s done feeling ashamed of it. Laws of nature be damned, he’s enjoying this. 

And he knows Yuuta is, too. If not for the way Yuuta pulls him in, holds Yuuji close in the strong embrace of his arms and eagerly presses a hot mouth to Yuuji’s, then Yuuji knows by his… biological reaction.

He noticed it the first time they kissed, when they finally pulled completely apart and Yuuta hurriedly turned away from him to take in cooling breaths. Now, it’s hard to ignore. Not when Yuuji’s in the water with him, being held against the smooth planes of Yuuta’s body as he kisses the breath from Yuuji’s lungs. Because Yuuji feels it against his hip. Or— feels them.

The first time he clearly saw them was when they were sitting on the ledge of the pool, the upper half of Yuuta’s tail out of the water. When they broke away, Yuuji looked down, and very tactfully exclaimed, “You have two dicks!”

Yuuta practically leaped back into the pool like a damn dolphin. Not Yuuji’s best moment. It took a good half hour of reassurance — No, it’s not weird! Well, maybe it is weird, but it’s fine, I promise! It’s really… really fine — for Yuuta to even look over at him again. 

Yuuji’s late-night fantasies have never been the same. Two. Fucking. Dicks. 

There’s a “main” cock — thick and curling out like the little wiggly things on anemones, with ridges that Yuuji yearns to feel inside of him. The other is thinner, shorter, and wraps around the main, strokes against it in a way that must be pleasurable. What it’s technically for, Yuuji has no clue. Does he care? Fuck no. 

You can’t really blame him for grinding against them like he is right now, desperately trying to get delicious friction to alleviate the burning need between his thighs. But every time he does, Yuuta pulls away, and that’s the end of it. Yuuta clears his throat and puts some distance between them before starting up some random topic of conversation. 

It makes Yuuji feel embarrassed and ashamed and, most of all, unwanted. Unwanted in the way he wants Yuuta. But that can’t be true, right? His fucking dicks come out every time they make out!

So what is it — what’s wrong? Why can’t they add this one thing to their already indecent repertoire? 

Yuuji frowns but follows Yuuta’s lead into a new discussion about the new whale he met on the way here who’s close to bursting, 18 months into her pregnancy — 18! Can you believe it, Yuuji? I would be miserable!  

He won’t push it if Yuuta’s uncomfortable. Yuuji will respect his boundaries, accept what he’s given. It’s not like this on its own isn’t satisfying; Yuuji loves talking to Yuuta, loves to listen to him, loves to be held in his arms, and to be kissed in every way imaginable — soft, hard, slow, and desperate. Whatever Yuuta has for him, Yuuji will take it. 

He’s content.

***

The first time Yuuji shows up to the grotto in swim trunks instead of a wetsuit, Yuuta practically rattles the entire structure of the cave, deafening screams ricocheting off the walls and assaulting Yuuji’s eardrums. 

Yuuji nearly jumps out of his skin, has to clutch his chest to ensure his heart doesn’t beat him to it. 

“Wh-What?” he sputters out. “What's wrong, what is it?”

Yuuta stares up at him from the water with horror-stricken eyes, all the color drained from his face. “Your… your skin! What happened? What?”

Yuuji looks down at himself, turns over his arms and legs to inspect them. “My… skin?”

“It’s…” he swims forward hesitantly. “It’s not black. Your arms… and legs… Your— Your chest!”

Yuuji looks down again, not comprehending what Yuuta’s trying to say. 

Yuuta is at the edge of the pool now. He reaches out to touch Yuuji’s leg gently. “Are you hurt?”

Yuuji blinks down at him, face twisted in confusion, and then it hits him. 

“Oh! Oh my god. That wasn’t my skin, Yuuta, holy shit.” Laughter bursts from deep in his chest, replaces the screams that filled up the cavern. “That was my wetsuit,” he explains between gasps of air. “My clothes. I’m fine.”

The puckered skin between Yuuta’s brows doesn’t smooth, so Yuuji hooks a thumb in the waistband of his swim trunks and lets it snap back against his hip. 

“Clothes. They cover our skin.”

Yuuta blinks. “But… why?”

Yuuji sits down on the edge of the pool and shrugs. “Different reasons. The basic answer is warmth or protection from the weather. But people also wear them to signal wealth or to be creative. People are rarely ever naked— er, naked means you’re not wearing clothes. We’re typically only ever naked when we’re born, bathing, or— uh… having sex. So. Yeah.”

Yuuta stares down at Yuuji’s orange swim trunks, then reaches out to touch the fabric. He pinches it between his fingers and lets it fall.

“So…” he starts, slowly. “You… do have reproductive organs?”

Yuuji blinks at him. “I— What?”

Yuuta hikes up his shoulders defensively and scowls. “I thought that was your skin! It was all smooth, all over! What was I supposed to think?”

“You— Yuuta, how did you think humans reproduced?”

Yuuta tosses up his arms and lets them fall down with a splash! “I don’t know! There are millions of ways to reproduce, Yuuji! You should see what goes on at the bottom of the ocean, it’s crazy.”

Yuuji sputters out a cackling laugh, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he doubles over in his mirth. “Oh my god. That’s— That’s the funniest thing you’ve ever— Oh my god.”

Yuuta glares at Yuuji before petulantly crossing his arms, turning his blushing face away.

“Oh, come on. Yuuta, that was funny. You have to admit that.”

The merman huffs out a short breath, then says, “I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty hurt, right now.” He sniffles dramatically, wiping a non-existent tear — mermaids don’t even cry, the little shit! “How are you gonna make it up to me?” He peers over at Yuuji from the corner of his eye.

Oh, the drama! 

Yuuji shakes his head, fighting back a smile as he reaches out to grasp Yuuta’s bicep and pull him closer. The merman immediately relents and turns towards Yuuji, swims right in between his thighs and closes his eyes, puckers his lips expectantly.

Yuuji stares at him incredulously. “You— I should make you kiss my ass, you brown noser!”

Yuuta opens an eye and smirks down at him. “I’m not stopping you.”

Yuuji weakly slaps at Yuuta’s chest. “Ugh, just come here.”

They share a chaste kiss, then two. They pull back just enough to rest their foreheads together, and Yuuta hums out a thank you. 

Then his attention turns to the newly exposed skin Yuuji has gifted him. Yuuta’s hands travel up Yuuji’s arms, his fingers trace the line of his collarbone. When Yuuta’s hands smooth down the planes of his chest, Yuuji gasps. His eyes flick up to Yuuji’s, holding his gaze as he repeats the movement. 

Yuuji tries his best to bite back his moans, but then Yuuta’s large hands brace either side of Yuuji’s chest. Yuuta places his thumbs on Yuuji’s nipples, rubs, and Yuuji’s gone. 

“I— Um—” Yuuji squirms in Yuuta’s hold, torn between turning away and pushing further into his grasp. “Yuuta, mmm—”

Yuuta lurches forward to swallow down Yuuji’s moans, to lick into his mouth and taste the sweet sounds on his tongue. Eventually, one of Yuuta’s hands continues its trek down Yuuji’s torso, stopping at the band of his tangerine trunks, teasing the edge.

Yuuta pulls away to look down at the garment again, and says, “I want them off. I want to see.”

Yuuji freezes, dread surrounding him like a cloud. “You— But… Hold on—”

“You’ve seen mine, “ Yuuta reminds him. “I want to see yours. Please? Please, Yuuji.” 

He presses soft lips to Yuuji’s jaw, down the line of his neck, leaving whispered pleases in the space between each kiss.

“I…” Yuuji begins and swallows down the lump in his throat. “I don’t… Mine is…” He takes a deep breath. “I don’t look like… typical human men.”

Yuuta pulls away to read Yuuji’s face. He must see the nervous hesitation in there because he cups Yuuji’s face in his hand and softens his gaze. 

“I don’t care,” Yuuta assures, a soft warmth coloring his tone. “I want to see you. Not a typical human man. You; all of you.”

Yuuji’s scared. This is… This would be the first time he’s exposed himself to someone in years. He hasn’t since he gained the now-faded scars on his chest. But he knows Yuuta, knows he’s safe in this relationship, in this space they’ve created for themselves. 

As Yuuji gazes into those midnight eyes, it hits him that Yuuta has exposed himself for him — has laid himself bare, vulnerable, out for Yuuji. When they first met, he’d placed his identity and trust in the palms of the human’s hands to do with what he will.

“Hey.” Yuuta holds Yuuji’s chin between his thumb and pointer finger, tilts his head to peer into Yuuji’s eyes. “You don’t have to. I just… You don’t have to. I won’t be upset.”

How could Yuuji not pay that trust and vulnerability back?

Yuuji swallows. “I know. I know you won’t. I just needed a second to think about it, and I want to. Show you, I mean. I’m okay with it.”

Yuuta gives a small smile and pecks Yuuji on the lips. 

“Okay. You can change your mind at any point,” he reminds before backing away. 

Yuuji takes a breath, holds it, and lets it out between pursed lips. Takes another breath, then hooks his thumbs into the band of his trunks and lifts his hips. The swim trunks are placed on the rock next to them, and Yuuji takes one more breath before finally meeting Yuuta’s eye. 

Yuuta’s got a nice, pretty blush high up on his cheekbones, and his eyes are fixed to Yuuji’s thighs, currently squeezed tightly together. With no small amount of wary amusement, Yuuji watches that blush grow darker as he spreads his legs apart and leans back, lays himself bare for Yuuta to take in. 

God, he’s… Embarrassed, but in a good way? Like a hot way. Like, having Yuuta’s eyes trained on his cunt makes him clench around nothing, and it sends a scorching thrill down his spine to pool hot and heavy in his belly. 

Shit, he’s getting so wet.

Yuuta doesn’t say anything, though his lips are parted as he moves closer. He places a hand on each of Yuuji’s thighs and really, Yuuji’s pussy needs to calm down — he hasn’t even done anything, yet. 

Yet.

Yuuta leans in, inspects his cunt from up close, and whispers, “Can I… touch?” like he’s afraid he’ll scare Yuuji away.

Yuuji sucks in a breath, and Yuuta immediately jerks away, an apology already poised on the tip of his tongue, but he’s cut off. 

“No, no!” Yuuji exclaims. “No, it’s okay. You can— Yeah, you can touch.”

Yuuta relaxes and returns to his place between Yuuji’s thighs. 

“Thank you,” he murmurs out before running a finger through the slit of Yuuji’s cunt and spreading it open. He drinks in the sight, looks like he has goddamn stars in his eyes, and then he says, “Looks like an oyster.”

“Pfft!” Yuuji snickers. “Yeah, it— I guess it doe— Ohhh fuck!”

Yuuta’s mouth is on him. Yuuta’s mouth is on Yuuji’s cunt. He glides his tongue between Yuuji’s folds to lick a line up his dripping need.

“ Fuck— Yuuta, oh my god!” Yuuji scrambles for purchase, but his blunt nails simply scrape against the smooth stone floor underneath him. 

Yuuta moves to pull away, but Yuuji immediately threads a hand in his hair and holds him in place.

“Don’t stop,” he gasps. “ Please . Please don’t stop, Yuuta, I— I need—”

Yuuta groans as he buries his tongue back between Yuuji’s thighs, grips his hip so hard Yuuji hopes there’ll be marks left on his skin to stare at when he’s wrapped in his sheets, reminding him of this exact moment — of Yuuta dragging that hot tongue over the lips of his cunt, of him lightly pushing into his entrance, and then shoving it in there at Yuuji’s needy moan. 

Yuuji’s hips buck up as Yuuta’s tongue travels up to his clit, trying to get as much sinful friction on Yuuji’s little cock as possible. When Yuuta’s lips close around it and suck, Yuuji keens , back bowing completely off the ground.

The tip of Yuuta’s tongue flicks against the head of Yuuji’s cock, and Yuuji’s left a babbling mess , forced to hear his own desperation reverberating off the walls of the cave, only to push him further towards the edge.

“Yuuta, I’m— Ohhh, fuuuuu— UHN! Shit, I’m so close—”

A hand slides up Yuuji’s thigh to meet Yuuta’s mouth, fingers circling his entrance, teasing. Yuuta presses two fingers in, just a bit, then removes them. Presses in, then out. In, out, again and again until Yuuji groans his name out in lust-clouded frustration.

“You fucking— tease. Just fuck me—”

Yuuta shoves his fingers inside, curls them, and it’s honestly pathetic how fast Yuuji breaks. 

He sees white — his entire body convulses with wave after blissfully devastating wave, so intense he loses all ability to speak, doesn’t even know what words are anymore. 

He has to bat Yuuta away once he finally comes down, curling away from the sting of oversensitivity. Always an enthusiastic one, that man. Truly an overachiever. 

When Yuuta looks back at him, his pupils are blown so wide Yuuji can barely see a sliver of blue anymore. He white-knuckles the edge of the pool, arms minutely trembling on either side of Yuuji, and the hunch of his shoulders over Yuuji feels distinctly predatory.

Yuuta takes in a steady breath, and says, “I wanna do that again.”

***

They do it again. And again. And again and again and again. 

It’s honestly becoming a problem. One time, when Yuuji was practicing his surfing in his swim trunks instead of the wet suit, Yuuta got ahold of him while he was hanging off the side of his board and practically ripped the fabric off of him, shoving his face between Yuuji’s thighs to bury his tongue in those soft folds again.

It was very difficult to explain to the other surfers he “just needed a minute” without moaning the words out.

That earned Yuuta the privilege of getting chewed out, which somehow ended with Yuuji riding Yuuta’s fingers until he forgot his own name. You win some, you… win some, honestly. Yuuji’s having a great time, despite the false fuss he puts up. 

And that’s the thing — Yuuji’s having a great time. A fantastic time, really. But he’s now questioning if the same is true for his partner. Because right now, their arrangement is anything but reciprocal. Any time Yuuji has tried to reach for Yuuta’s own need, the merman pins his arms above his head and edges him until he cries. Which is so fucking hot, don’t get him wrong — but Yuuta must be feeling neglected at this point, right? 

It’s not that Yuuta isn’t getting off at all — Yuuji watches him stroke himself while sucking the soul out of Yuuji’s clit, which only hurls Yuuji that much further over the edge. But Yuuji’s yet to touch Yuuta himself. And it irks him. 

Honestly, he’s feeling a bit neglected; like he isn’t receiving the same trust from Yuuta that he’s given. It causes Yuuji to question himself, question their relationship, question everything . Is Yuuta not actually attracted to him anymore? Has he lost interest and now only touches Yuuji out of obligation? Is he disgusted by the idea of Yuuji touching him? Is Yuuji not good enough? Is Yuuji not enough?

Yuuji doesn’t do well with holding these things in — he’s always had a bit of trouble with impulse control; you’ve probably noticed — so the next time they’re tangled up in each other in the depths of the grotto’s sparkling turquoise pool and Yuuta grabs for the waistband of Yuuji’s trunks, the words, “I WANT YOUR COCKS INSIDE OF ME!” tumbles out of Yuuji’s mouth so fast and so loud he stuns even himself.  

Yikes. He may have skipped a few steps, there. 

“W-wait— Oh, god—”

Yuuji slaps his hands over his face, feels the burning skin of his cheeks against his palms. 

Jesus, Yuuji. The point was to talk about touching his dicks. Touching his dicks! A little hand-job! A little double-handed sloppy toppy, maybe! Not fucking penetration, you absolute goon.

“Ahm sahhee,” he groans through the space between his hands. 

He’s definitely crossed a boundary. Multiple boundaries. All the boundaries! 

Yuuta’s gonna realize how ridiculous this all is, tell Yuuji how disgusted he is with the idea of them being together in that way , and prove what they both have known this whole time — the laws of nature are absolute. This was pointless from the beginning. 

Yuuta’s silent for a long moment, and that does nothing to help Yuuji’s steadily growing anxiety. But then Yuuji feels a tug on his hands, allows Yuuta to uncover his face, and Yuuta’s… Yuuta’s looking at him like… Yuuta’s eyes are somehow heavy and wide. Dark and soft. Heated and… loving. 

Yuuta cups Yuuji’s face, pulls them closer together, and whispers, “Are you serious?” with so much awe and hesitance, Yuuji can’t help the ugly twist of his features. 

“Hah?! How is that a surprise? Am I missing something? Are you actually blind and use echolocation to suss things or something?”

Yuuta’s eyebrows raise, and now a new emotion has been added to the mix on his face: amusement. 

“I’m honestly impressed with your knowledge of sea life, baby. Good job, I’m proud of you.”

Oh, that’s so not fair. 

Yuuji tries his best to reign himself in, to not squirm in Yuuta’s hold because this goddamn fish knows the power of his words, how wet Yuuji gets in response. He pours all of his energy into glaring daggers at Yuuta. 

“It’s called a library card, ever heard of it?”

Yuuta hums and nods. “I have, actually.”

“Yeah, well… I might’ve checked out a few books on mermaids, and… sea life in general. Maybe.”

Yuuta’s eyes practically sparkle as a wide grin overtakes the entirety of his features. His goddamn eyebrows look like they’re smiling. 

“You did that for me, love?” At Yuuji’s petulant silence, Yuuta simply lets out an excited, breathy laugh and presses kisses around Yuuji’s face. “Oh, you’re so sweet,” — kiss — “the sweetest,” — kiss —  “so good to me.”

Yuuji’s heart stutters out a pattering rhythm. He’s flooded in molasses — warmth from each cloying press of lips drips down to his chest, sugar-sweet incandescence pools until it’s all there is, until it’s all he is. Yuuji feels as if he’s floating in air rather than in this pool of water. 

The laughter he sputters out under Yuuta’s attention only seems to spur the man on, arms looping around Yuuji’s back to pull him in. A gentle brush of lips on Yuuji’s neck, and then he blows a loud, tickling raspberry into sensitive skin. 

“ Ah! St–” — a giggle — “Stop it!”

“Itadori?”

Time freezes. The world halts on its axis, a chill fills the air — all that poetic shit Yuuji never paid much attention to in literature class. But damn are they relevant now, because the little bubble he and Yuuta have created for themselves has just burst in a matter of a second, in the span of four syllables.

Kugisaki is here.

Yuuji spins around in Yuuta’s hold so fast, the world blurs. The merman is frozen, stock-still against him, like maybe if he doesn’t move they won’t see him.

Kugisaki stands at the opening of the grotto, a water balloon held in the palm of her hand, with her girlfriend, Maki, standing to her side with a bucket filled to the brim with multicolored water balloons.

Kugisaki lets her arm drop, staring wide-eyed at the two of them floating in the center of the grotto’s pool. 

Yuuji holds out his palm, attempting to stave off the inevitable incoming storm.

“Kugisaki, wait. Let me explain—”

Her shock quickly melds into outrage, her eyes flashing hot and sharp, and Yuuji braces himself for the brunt of her fury. But instead of aiming that ire at him, Kugisaki turns to Yuuta, finger stabbing through the air to point at the merman as she says, “Oh, you better explain. Cause as I see things now, this son of a bitch has been hiding you away from us. For what, huh? Is Itadori not good enough to be seen with publicly? You could only dream to have a man like Itadori on your arm, shithead!”

Yuuji stumbles over his words, figures out he doesn’t even know what to say, then promptly shuts his trap. An abounding rush of affection hits Yuuji so hard, he can only stare up at his best friend with an amalgamation of awe, warmth, and still-lingering apprehension. 

Eventually, he finds his voice.

“Kugisaki!” Yuuji swoons, bringing a hand to his chest. “My knight in shining armor! Are you here to defend my honor?”

Kugisaki turns to him with a click of her tongue. “Stop trying to distract me! And I came here to pelt you with water balloons. Obviously.”

“But I’m already wet from swimming. You should’ve filled them with slime or something.”

“Are you an idiot? We’re at the beach, that’s bad for the environment!” She shakes a fist at him for emphasis.

“I don’t think balloons are good for the environment, either, Kugisaki,” Yuuji reminds her sagely. 

She visibly grits her teeth and bellows, “We were gonna clean them up afterwards! Now start explaining, you little shit, or I swear to god I’m gonna save myself the cleanup and shove these balloons down y’all’s throats!”

Yuuji positions himself in front of Yuuta, puts himself between him and the two newcomers. Yuuta’s grip on his waist tightens in response, and god he must be so terrified right now. Yuuji swears he can feel the hammering of the merman’s heart on all the parts they’re connected. 

Or maybe that’s his own heart, because yeah he’s scared, too. Has no idea what’s going to happen now that their safe shelter has been infiltrated. As much as he loves Kugisaki, as much as he trusts her with his life, he has no idea how she’ll react to Yuuta, to learning that mermaids are real. Deep in his heart, he wants to believe she wouldn’t do anything to compromise them — he knows she’s not one to blab about things to earn accolades at the expense of others. But she’s gotta get real cool with a lot of things real fast — namely, the fact that the two of them have been making out and cumming together for the better part of four months now. 

Yuuji internally winces. Shit, this is… gonna be a lot, isn’t it?

Steeling himself, Yuuji takes a deep breath and — with all the valor he can muster under these circumstances — says, “This is my boyfriend, Yuuta.”

For a long, deafening moment, it’s completely silent. The only sounds filling the space are those made by the softly lapping waves of the pool. Yuuji looks at Kugisaki, Kugisaki looks at Yuuji. Her eyes dart to Yuuta, behind herself to Maki, and back to Yuuji. 

And then, everything happens at once.

From Kugisaki, boorishly: “WHAT! MAKI GIVE ME THAT DAMN BUCKET RIGHT NOW–”

From Yuuta, softly: “Boyfriend?”

From Maki, calmly: “Are we just going to ignore those ears or what?”

Kugisaki continues her tirade for a moment, lost to her own blind fury, until Maki’s words hit her and she quiets down. Turning back to the pair in the pool, she looks closer at the man now molded to Yuuji’s back — arms wrapped tightly around his middle, and face buried in his neck, clicking out happy little sounds no human would ever be able to make — and gawks.

Yuuji clears his throat, fighting the furious blush spreading across his cheeks, and stumbles out. “Uh, s-so— We can’t exactly make our relationship public. Because, uh— Yuuta?”

With some dismay, Yuuta ceases his nuzzling against Yuuji’s neck and meets his eye. There’s a short, silent exchange, and then they separate, swimming towards the edge of the pool. Yuuji moves first, pushing up sinewy, tan arms to lift into a sit on the ledge. He meets Yuuta’s eye, sees the hint of apprehension in them, and reaches out to hold his boyfriend’s hand. 

Yuuta threads their fingers together and nods, then turns towards Yuuji’s friends and holds their gaze as he follows suit — jumping onto the ledge of the pool and swinging his tail high up into the air to dunk back down into the water with a crashing splash. 

The two women audibly gasp, Kugisaki taking a step back to avoid the splash zone. 

Though it’s totally inappropriate to the context, Yuuji kind of wants to laugh. Because Kugisaki and Maki both look like their jaws have unhinged themselves, hanging so low he’s sure they could pull off a good swell shark impression — sitting at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for wandering fish to swim into their mouths. It makes him wonder what he looked like the first time, after being saved from that awful storm.

Kugisaki takes in a sharp breath, closes her eyes and shakes her head like she’s trying to reset herself. When she finally opens them again, she says, stiffly, “Okay. Alright. Okay.” 

She turns back to Maki, takes a hold of the bucket, replaces her ammo, and sets it down on the ground. She takes Maki in hand and walks over to the two of them, sitting crossed legged on the wet stone floor.

She seems unable to speak at the moment, so Maki takes over with a gruff, “Explain.”

***

After the high tide has started rolling in, long after the sun bid its farewells to the shore, Kugisaki and Maki finally take their leave. 

They took it all in stride — Kugisaki landed a good few punches on Yuuta’s arm every now and then to make sure he was actually real. Yuuji thinks the last few were more of a demonstration of her strength than anything else, a warning: Fuck with Yuuji and you have to deal with me.

As terrifying as it initially was, Yuuji’s relieved that his closest friend now knows his biggest secret. He no longer has to sneak around, lie about what he’s up to, where he’s going. And Yuuta and Maki seemed to have hit it off pretty well — at one point, Maki even jumped into the pool to spar with him, curious to see how her combat moves worked under water. 

They parted with a promise to double-date sometime in the near future, Kugisaki sending Yuuji a stern, meaningful look as she said her farewell — one wrought with concern despite the guise of playful anger there. Yuuji knows the two of them have more to discuss when he gets home. And they will. But Yuuji has something to take care of here before then.

The two women solemnly swore not to tell anyone about Yuuta. Yuuji trusts their word, and Yuuta trusts him. 

Now, they’re wrapped up in each other, sharing a warm embrace and a deep sigh of relief, their skin glowing a bright neon blue from the bioluminescent algae beneath them. 

What a fucking day.

When Yuuta moves to pull away, surely preparing to say his goodbyes for the night, Yuuji grips his shoulders and stares resolutely into his eyes.

“Oh, no you don’t. We’ve got something to discuss, sir.”

Yuuta raises a brow. “And what would that be?”

“Earlier, before we were interrupted, when I yelled out… what I wanted. You looked at me like you couldn’t believe what I’d said.”

Yuuta’s eyes widen a fraction and he ducks his head to the side but doesn’t say anything. 

Yuuji continues. “How could you not know?”

Yuuta looks back at him, brows drawn together, and says, a bit strained, like he’s trying to wrangle in his volume, “Are you serious, right now? Do you remember how you reacted the first time you saw my dicks?”

“Huh?”

“You freaked out and said it was weird!”

“Excuse me?” Yuuji gapes up at him. “I said it was fine! Really fine!”

Exasperated, Yuuta scoffs and looks off to the side as he says, “Yeah, ‘really fine’ — ‘very okay.’ Doesn’t exactly scream interest, Yuuji.”

“Yuuta. When I say ‘really fine’ like that, it means I really, really like it. It’s called emphasis.”

The merman blinks at him, plain confusion in his features.

“Emphasis… means that the word is intense. So you meant that is was intensely fine. Very okay. Not significant. Not interesting.”

Yuuji shakes his head with a laugh. “No, baby. Well — yes, that is one thing emphasis does, but the way I used it there was like…” 

Shit, Yuuji doesn’t know how to explain this. He’s not a damn linguist! There must be some fancy academic terms to explain whatever this linguistic concept is, but whatever it is, Yuuji’s never heard it. 

“It… was used to imply the opposite? Like, if I said ‘really fine’ I think the meaning would be what you said before. But because I emphasized the ‘really’ it changed the meaning of the word that came after it kinda? I think? Ugh! I don’t know! What I’m trying to say is that your cocks get me wet and I want them inside me! Damn!”

“Pffft!” Yuuta breaks out into a mess of snickering, burying his face into the curve of Yuuji’s shoulder to muffle his laughter. 

Yuuji rolls his eyes. “That is not an appropriate way to respond to someone confessing they want you to fuck them, Yuuta.”

“I know, I know, just…” — a chuckle — “You’re so cute.”

Yuuji huffs and fails to repress a wobbly smile.

Okay, so that answers that question. But, still, Yuuji feels unsure, cagey. There’s an unspoken truth neither of them have broached. And yet it has burrowed itself in the back of Yuuji’s mind, tinting their interactions with coal-colored glasses. A miasma of foreboding permeates this secluded world they’ve created. 

Their relationship is made of curiosity, naivety, and stolen time cobbled together in the shape of love, held precariously by a tangled mess of unspoken words. And perhaps it will remain that way, for the most part — they will continue to question and learn and approach each new discovery with child-like fascination. But at the very least, they can untangle this thread wedged between those parts, praying that everything doesn’t all fall to pieces with it. 

And so, Yuuji grasps the end of the string and pulls.

“Are you actually okay with this? Are we—” Yuuji takes a steadying breath. Jeez, he’s nervous. “Are we doomed? Fighting a losing battle against mother nature or something.”

It’s difficult for Yuuji to tell himself that he’s fine with whatever answer he receives. Because the reality is that there are only two outcomes: overwhelming relief or crushing pain. And that dichotomy is anything but settling. 

Yuuta holds Yuuji’s chin between his thumb and finger, tilting his head and holding his gaze. 

“Yuuji, love… I cannot express enough how much I do not care about that. At all.”

There’s a lump lodged in Yuuji’s throat. He attempts to swallow it down before asking, “Where do we go from here? We— I don’t know what a future for us would look like.”

Yuuta brushes a strand of hair from Yuuji’s eyes and sighs. 

“I don’t have any answers, either. Choosing to stay together isn’t an easy decision, I know. I want you to meet my friends, and I’m honestly ecstatic to have met some of yours — I hadn’t even let myself consider it until today. And I think it went well.”

“Yeah… Surprisingly well.”

Yuuta nods. “I want you to meet Inumaki and Panda. I’ll bring them around next time. Today made me realize that becoming a part of each other’s lives isn’t as unattainable as I’d thought before. I think there’s hope, even if we don’t know the details right now.”

Yuuji plays with the short hairs at the nape of Yuuta’s neck absentmindedly, chewing on the merman’s words.

They resonate with him — he, too, had never allowed himself to consider introducing Yuuta to his loved ones. And today’s events have definitely planted a seed of hope, however small, in him. 

“Even if the future ahead of us is short,” Yuuji begins.

Yuuta frowns, opening his mouth to undoubtedly express displeasure in the sentiment, but Yuuji pushes forward.

“Even then… I wouldn’t regret choosing to stay with you while I can. I— This is— You’re important to me. I want to soak up as much of you as I can, regardless of the consequences.”

“Let’s not think about the potential consequences, for now. Can we agree to that? We’ll just do what feels good, for as long as we can.”

The tight, burdensome ball of anxiety that has been sitting heavy in Yuuji’s chest since he first posed the question of their future finally starts to loosen, and with it, the thread of unspoken words. And Yuuji’s both elated and deeply relieved to find their relationship holds shape in its absence.

He lets out a long, heavy sigh through his nose and presses their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

“Yes, I can agree to that. And being your boyfriend feels good.”

Yuuji can’t see it with his eyes still closed, but he can hear the smile in Yuuta’s voice as he says, “Yeah. It feels really good.” 

They share a soft kiss, and when Yuuji pulls away, he meets Yuuta’s gaze, heat burning in his own eyes. Perhaps it’s tasteless, crude — inappropriate to the context, maybe. None of those possibilities stop the next words from falling from Yuuji’s lips.

“You know what else I’m betting would feel good?” Yuuji bites his lip.

Yuuta lets out a short, breathy laugh, and pulls Yuuji closer in. Voice dipping low, warm, and saccharine, he purrs, “I didn’t know you were such a cockslut, love.”

“Wh—” Yuuji gawks, blood caught between flooding his cheeks and travelling south. “Okay, how do you not understand the uses of emphasis but know that word, sir? Absolutely ridiculou—”

Rudely, Yuuta promptly shuts Yuuji up, swallowing his words with each insistent, ardent brush of lips. Not that Yuuji’s complaining. As a matter of fact—

Yuuji leans eagerly into the kiss, fingers threading through silk onyx, and wraps strong, powerful thighs around the merman’s hips.

Yuuta matches his enthusiasm, groaning when he takes a handful of Yuuji’s ass and drags him impossibly closer. His mouth moves down Yuuji’s jaw and neck, nipping at his collarbone.

Yuuji tilts his hips, and oh , yes. That— That’s what he’s been waiting, been yearning for over several restless nights. Yuuta’s length settles against his clothed cunt, and the tight groan that escapes Yuuta’s throat as Yuuji rolls his hips against him feels like the first hit of a blunt — burning, with the promise of so much more to come. He grinds again, with purpose, and fuck the shock of pleasure hits him so hard his hips stutter in their haste to chase that delicious friction. 

Yuuta pants hot against Yuuji’s neck, and moves with him, small, aborted thrusts that meet each roll of Yuuji’s hips. Yuuji’s movements are sloppy, rushed, desperate, so Yuuta tightens his hold on Yuuji’s ass, grasps onto a tanned hip, and does his best to steer them into a cohesive rhythm. 

Shit. Fuck, Yuuji could cum from this, just this. And it’d be so easy to give in to that desire, to rut up against Yuuta’s need until he falls apart, but this isn’t how he wants it. Not like this. 

So he pushes against Yuuta’s chest and makes a disgruntled sound to get Yuuta to stop, because using his vocal chords to produce words seems an impossible feat right now. 

Yuuta does — stop, that is. Though, not without a tightening of his jaw, a scorching look in his eye that signifies just how much of a monumental effort it is. And as soon as there’s space between their bodies, Yuuji scrambles to rid himself of his swim trunks, tossing them uncaringly to the side before latching back onto Yuuta in a breathless rush.

They crash into each other — a mess of limbs grasping onto heated skin, mouths coming together to share panting breaths, and then Yuuji rolls his hips again and—

“Oh, fu—uck.”  

His voice breaks on the word because Yuuta’s cocks feel amazing — warm, in complete contrast to the cool water they’re submerged in, and he can feel each ridge rub against his clit with every frantic grind. And god, he can’t stop himself, now — humping Yuuta like a bitch in heat, and the knowledge of what he must look like only makes the pool of heat gathering in his belly burn hotter.

“Yeah, baby— Yes, fuck, just like that, don’t—” Yuuta groans against Yuuji’s neck. “Don’t stop, mmmh—”

As if he could. As if he’s not completely lost to this carnal pleasure, hanging on by a goddamn thread. 

“I’m— Your cocks, they’re— UHN— Fuck, I’m gonna cum, make me cum, makemecum —”

Yuuta outright growls, grips Yuuji’s ass and thrusts while placing his teeth in the juncture where neck meets shoulder and biting.

“AH! Fuck, FUCK!”  

Yuuji feels himself clench around nothing, and that devastating truth nearly wracks a sob from him, but then he’s cumming — falling apart on a silent scream, pleasure so white-hot and sharp he could fucking cry — and he forgets his own name for a hazy second. 

When he comes to, Yuuta has stilled his movements against him, taking in measured, deep breaths. 

Burning coals. All Yuuji sees when he meets his eyes are burning coals. Yuuta’s looking at Yuuji like he wants to consume him, and Yuuji faintly recalls his fear of being eaten when they first met, seemingly so far away now. 

“You have no idea,” Yuuta begins between breaths, “how many times I’ve imagined this. How many times I’ve stroked myself thinking of the sounds you make, the way you look when you cum. Fuck, baby.”

Oh, 

holy 

hell. 

Yuuji lets out a soft whine, already wanting to grind up against Yuuta all over again. But there’s also a distinct awareness of just how empty he feels, and he can’t have that. Not when there’s a solution readily available.

But Yuuta, ever the munificent lover, tightens his grip on him and says, “Can I taste you? Please, baby, I want it, I want to see you come apart again, please—”

“You—” Yuuji’s laugh is nearly a scoff, left in disbelief. “You’re fucking— insatiable , you know that?”

“Yeah. So can I?”

“Babe… As good as that sounds — and trust, it sounds really, really good — I’d rather cum on your cocks.”

Somehow, Yuuta’s pupils dilate impossibly larger as he takes in a sharp breath through his nose. 

“Yeah, that— Yeah, okay, yes, that sounds g— Hahhhhfuck—”

Oh, wow. Oh, wow. 

Yuuji could feel the foreign texture of Yuuta’s cock on his cunt, but here, in his hand, he feels it in so much detail — the way the tentacle-like bumps shrink in size as they travel up to the tip, the texture in complete contrast to the smooth line of the smaller cock. He savors it with every pump, twisting his wrist at the tip in a way that punches soft little ahh, ahh, ahh ’s from his boyfriend.

“Don’t, please, I’m gonna—”

Yuuta lightly bats his hand away, and when Yuuji’s hand resurfaces, he rubs his thumb back and forth across his fingers because there’s… there’s—

“Lube?”

Yuuta makes a breathy, questioning sound.

“Your cocks are covered in lube!”

Yuuta cocks his head to the side. “Yeah? Your cunt is, too?”

“Yeah, but— I mean— Human penises don’t self-lubricate.”

“Hmm… Well, when you’re underwater, the water can kinda wash away the lube with all the movement. So twice the lube makes it less likely we’ll experience pain from the friction.”

“Ah.” Yuuji nods, staring down at his hand. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Mhm, now…”

Yuuji yelps as Yuuta throws him over his shoulder, tossing him like he weighs absolutely nothing , practically a ragdoll in this man’s hold, and digs his fingers into the muscles of Yuuta’s back as he swims them over to the stone ledge of the pool. He places him down, then promptly hops up onto the edge and pats his lap.

“Sit.”

Yuuji swallows as his cunt throbs at the command, and hastily moves to comply. He straddles Yuuta’s tail, hips held up high above the merman’s cocks. 

Yuuta holds Yuuji’s face in both hands and pulls him in. This kiss is no less heated than before, but it’s slow, languorous — like they’re savoring this moment. When they break apart, Yuuta leans back onto his forearms, sweeps his gaze all along Yuuji’s body, and god , Yuuji feels it. Yuuta’s gaze is its own incendiary touch, and Yuuji burns.

“I wanna see you,” Yuuta whispers, voice so low he can barely hear it over the lapping pool waves. “Wanna see that fat pussy swallow me whole.”

“Oh my god,” Yuuji rushes out. “Oh my god , I need— I need you—”

Yuuji’s so turned on he feels dizzy as he reaches down and grasps Yuuta in hand, lines him up to the dripping opening of his cunt. He meets Yuuta’s gaze and his breath catches when the cocks move, jerking in Yuuji’s hand, as if straining to get inside of him, and then, as though on instinct, Yuuji meets them. 

The first inch goes in easily, the main cock tapered off into a thin point, but then Yuuji slides further down, and—

“Shit, you’re— so thick, mm—”

Yuuta places a hand on Yuuji’s thigh, rubbing gentle circles into tanned skin.

“Are you okay? We can stop, you don’t have to—”

Yuuji cuts him off with a sharp shake of his head.

“ Nono , I wanna— ‘M gonna—”

He takes his time, slowly moving down centimeter by centimeter, savoring the glorious burning stretch as his pussy accommodates each ridge — wider and wider, and wider , still — until he finally sits fully sheathed , sighing out in blissful relief at finally being properly stuffed. 

Holy fuck, he’s got two fucking dicks inside of him. Yuuji feels so stretched and full and hot from the crown of his head all the way to his curled toes. 

It’s heaven.

He sits only for a moment, allowing himself just enough time to adjust before placing his hands together on Yuuta’s abdomen and leisurely dragging himself up.

“You’re—” Yuuta chokes on his words. “Fuck, when your arms are together like that— Oh god, oh my god.”

Yuuji moans brokenly at the drag of each of those ridges against his walls — fuck he can feel them all, can feel everything — and stares down at Yuuta’s face.

He doesn’t meet Yuuji’s gaze, eyes instead trained on his chest, hands curled into white-knuckled fists at his sides. There’s a pretty flush all the way down to his chest, sweat on his brow, and a pained look on his face that suggests just how difficult it is for him to hold back, right now. How strong of a wall of restraint he’s keeping up.

And Yuuji really, really wants to break it.

Once Yuuji reaches the tip, he circles his hips once, then slams down on Yuuta in one fell swoop. He hisses at the burn, hearing Yuuta’s own stilted groan through the cotton in his brain. He lifts back up again, a little faster, and slams home — over and over, building up a somewhat coordinated rhythm on Yuuta’s cocks.

Every single bounce pushes desperate, breathless sounds from Yuuji’s throat — little incomplete words of ah, f— ah, so— ngh, bi–g oh g–od, UHN ’s — that he can’t hold back, like he’s lost all control of his vocal chords, control of his body because he’s sure he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from bouncing in Yuuta’s lap like this if his life fucking depended on it. 

Yuuta’s so thick he reaches all the right places inside of Yuuji without even trying, and it’s nothing short of fucking euphoria as Yuuji is shoved further and further towards the edge at a pace so fast he’s almost scared. 

And then there’s Yuuta’s fucking mouth.

“Yeah, fuck, baby, you— ngh, you look fucking— incredible on my cocks, fuck—”

Yuuji whines, high and needy, and the reverberations of his own voice, of the fucking sounds they’re making — the wet squelch of Yuuji fucking Yuuta’s cocks, the harsh splash of the shallow water around them, the smack of skin against tail — are fucking criminal, better than any porno he could ever hope to buy. It’s so good it’s disgusting, deplorable — an experience so good it can only be damning.

And, fuck, Hell’s worth it.

“Fucking— dripping all over me, I’m covered in your cum— mmm— so fucking wet for me.”

Yuuji’s pace increases fractionally, and he’s getting sloppy — hips stuttering and thighs shaking with how much he needs this, needs to cum on Yuuta’s cocks right fucking now.

“Please,” he begs in a whisper, the only word he can properly track down, can say without breaking off into a mess of whimpering. 

And then— And then—

“AH! Whatthefuck— What the—”

Shit, Yuuta’s cocks are moving inside of him. Curling, twisting, fluttering around inside of him, and that’s it, he’s cumming . 

Yuuji makes a startled, distressed sound — because his orgasm hits him so hard it’s scary , rolling through his body in harsh waves, over and over and over . His body convulses, body jerking with each crashing roll, and he feels himself clench like a vice around Yuuta’s cocks, cunt twitching as he cums so hard, it punches moans out at the tail end of each wave.

“FUCK! UHN– h–UHH– h–UHH– UHN!”

Yuuji collapses halfway through his orgasm, falling forward onto the warmth of Yuuta’s chest, into the strong embrace of his boyfriend as Yuuta wraps those strong arms around him. 

Yuuji’s entire body buzzes with freshly released energy, his damn fingertips tingle where they lay splayed across Yuuta’s broad chest. He can barely catch his breath, legs shaking against cool, smooth scales. 

There’s a ringing in his ears, a pressure that slowly dissipates, and then he realizes that Yuuta’s talking.

“—hottest fucking thing I’ve ever— Shit, I’m so— I can’t—”

And then Yuuta’s rocking himself up, tail splashing wildy in the water as he pushes himself back into Yuuji’s placid pussy.

“‘M sorry, I’m sorry— Ah, fuck— I’m so sorry—” 

Yuuji wants to ask what he’s sorry for, but he’s lost all faculties, unable to reach the part of himself that stores his vocabulary, feeling so far away in this moment. All he can do is moan like a fucking whore as Yuuta tightens his hold on him and uses him like a damn fleshlight.

“You cannot imagine— MM— You cannot imagine what you look like, baby— Making a fucking mess on my cocks, god you’re so perfect.”

Yuuji outright sobs, forced into burning overstimulation with no energy to curl away from it, but Yuuji then confronts the realization that he has no desire to curl away, more than content to lay here and take everything Yuuta has to give. 

Yuuta pulls back, and in the moment before he rocks up into him again, Yuuji feels a pressure against his asshole, feels himself open in response, and then Yuuta slams home.

“AH! Oh, GOD!”

Hot, fat tears roll down Yuuji’s face, and he gasps for air because fuck, fuck, Yuuta’s smaller cock is filling his ass as his cunt quivers around the main shaft, feeling fuller than he’s ever felt in his goddamn life, and that sends Yuuji into another stuttering orgasm.

“Fuck yeah, fuuuuck yeah, baby, that’s fucking right— nghhh shit, I’m gonna— Inside—”

It’s supposed to be a question, the typical lift at the end clipped with the effort Yuuta’s no doubt exerting to keep himself from spilling into Yuuji at this exact moment. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” Yuuji moans out, nodding frantically, and that’s all Yuuta needs for his cocks to twitch inside of him, Yuuji’s name on his tongue, spilling hot cum inside Yuuji’s two holes, and there’s so much, he feels it leak out of him and onto his thighs.

Yuuji is absolutely spent, completely unable to move a single muscle in his body, so he just resigns himself to spending the rest of his life stuck to Yuuta’s side like a starfish. 

It wouldn’t be a terrible fate, he thinks to himself as Yuuta softly pets his hair and he sighs into the touch.

They spend a good few minutes just laying there, enjoying the comfortable warmth of each other, taking the time to catch their breaths and slow the erratic rhythms of their hearts. 

There’s a moment in which Yuuji thinks to himself How could I ever go without this? and feels an icy hot sting of panic at the thought of them inevitably separating, driven apart by the unbridgeable differences in their worlds. But then he remembers the words they’d exchanged just earlier, the way Kugisaki and Maki took in Yuuta’s existence — and their relationship — in stride. 

Maybe they won’t work out, but maybe they will. Neither of them knows what the future holds, and focusing on what could be instead of what is does nothing to serve them. 

They agreed to do what feels right in the moment. And keeping to that position, Yuuji whispers into the glittering space of the cavern, practically a yell with how silent it is, 

“I love you.”