Bakugous PoV

It was rare that I felt so overwhelmed by a situation, but at that moment I did not know what to do. What was the owner of the pub doing here? Why wasn't he in Ariko? And what the hell was he doing with the bandits that had just attacked us?

But I didn't seem to be the only one who was just overwhelmed. It was as if everyone had stopped in their movement not knowing who a friend was and who an enemy.

The first one who spoke was one of the bandits. He still held my dragon blade in his hands and looked with a frown at Kaminari, who was still staring at Red with his mouth open. "What do you mean, Denki? Do you know these guys?" he asked growling.

The pub owner seemed to collect himself a bit, at least he closed his mouth and looked first at me and then at Todoroki and Deku, who looked just as confused. He cleared his throat. "Well... yes... I know them," he finally said. "And I would very much appreciate it if you would not threaten them." The uncertainty was clearly audible in his voice.

"Hah?", the other bandit hissed, waving Deku's sword in Kaminari's direction. "Since when do you command anyone here? Don't forget what you owe the Boss, kid!"

The pub owner winced and muttered something incomprehensible, but apparently not at all satisfied with the bandit's statement. I rolled my eyes. What had he got involved in now? But that was typical for the walking short circuit after all. All the time he was involved in matters he should have stayed away from.

While the rest of us were still standing around passively, Red was a little quicker on the uptake and jumped towards the two men who had turned away from him to talk to Kaminari. A second later, both bandits were lying on the ground, face down, each of them held by one of Red's front paws. Quickly I ran towards them and took our weapons from them. One of them struck at me with my dragon blade, but his movement was so limited that it was easy to evade him and grab his wrist.

Reluctantly he let go of my sword and relief overcame me when I felt the familiar weight in my hand again. I had felt completely useless before, but now I had things under control again. I threw their weapons over to Deku and Todoroki, who caught them skillfully.

Then Red shifted back and let go of the two bandits lying on the ground. Immediately they jumped up but were surrounded by several swords threatening them. Reluctantly, they raised their hands.

"Get away from here," Todoroki said seriously and gave them a fiery look. "Hurry, before I remember your faces!"

The bandits seemed to realize that it had ended here for them, turned around and took a few steps. But then one of them stopped and turned to Kaminari. "Come Denki!" he growled in a commanding tone.

But the bar owner stood still as if frozen and shook his head. The bandit stared at him angrily and Kaminari shifted uncomfortably under his gaze a little. Before he could give in, I intervened. "The idiot stays with us. We still have a bone to pick with him," I growled.

The bandit glared at me and then looked briefly at Kaminari again. Then he spat in his direction and turned around cursing. Finally they disappeared between the trees.

Complete silence fell on those present. We waited tense for a while until we were sure that the bandits were really gone. Then I slowly put my sword back into its sheath.

Red cleared his throat and looked around. "I know it's the middle of the night, but I think we have some things to work out." His gaze rested on Kaminari for a moment. "So we'd better sit down and talk about it."

And so we sat down at the campfire, which was already pretty burnt down. Red made sure that it burned brightly again and thus gave more light and warmth. We took the blankets from our sleeping places to sit a little more comfortably. Kaminari sat down a little hesitantly. All eyes were on him when everyone had found his place.

"I know I fucked up," he finally muttered.

"Tch. You don't say," I mumbled. Even without knowing anything about the background, it was quite obvious.

"Oh, there was this guy - I think his name was Shigaraki - and well ... he really helped me out. He ... made sure that I could keep my pub, although ...", his eyes wandered restlessly to Todoroki, "although I had ... well ... gambled there."

I snorted. Gambling again. The guy just didn't learn.

Kaminari looked at the ground, his ears red with embarrassment. "To return the favor, I have done some minor services for him. Errands and things like that. But then ...", he nervously ran his fingers through the earth, "then he kept telling me that I owed him something. Asked me about my contacts and threatened to report me if I didn't help him. And then he found out, don't ask me how, that Sero helped you to escape from Ariko. I had no choice but to do whatever and whenever he wanted. It had all started so harmlessly...", his voice became quieter and quieter as he ended.

"Shigaraki, huh?" Todoroki asked. "You know that the military has been keeping an eye on him for a long time? They are on the case, and he will be arrested soon. You don't need to worry about him reporting you or betraying Sero. He can't risk exposure himself right now, much less go to the military himself."

Kaminari looked at him astonished. "Really?" he asked in a raspy voice. The relief he radiated was almost palpable.

"Really," said the prince simply.

"It still sucked, what you pulled here," I growled. "If we didn't have Red, we'd have lost all of our weapons."

"I didn't command this!" Kaminari justified himself. "They acted completely on their own. I was only on that raid because they needed someone who knew the country and its people!"

"Besides," Todoroki interjected, "things might have been easier if half of us hadn't suddenly disappeared." His tone was not directly reproachful, but the way he looked at us, he seemed to be waiting for an explanation.

Red blushed and stammered something incomprehensible and I pulled a little on the collar of my shirt to cover his marks, which were spread all over my neck and shoulders.

Kaminari seemed to realize immediately what had happened and started to laugh. "No really, you're serious?" he asked chuckling, and elbowed Red teasingly in the side, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Deku also blushed as he understood what had happened. Todoroki pulled his eyebrows together in confusion and leaned over to his boyfriend. I didn't understand what he was asking but I could roughly guess when Deku answered with a "I tell you later".

"One question, Kat," Red said, as if to direct the subject to something different. "How did you get your dragon blade back?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I met Aizawa at the gates. He picked up the sword after the battle of Kyotawa and has kept it ever since.

Red looked down thoughtfully at the dragon blade that I had strapped to my belt again. He seemed to think intensely about something. But he didn't let me share his thoughts, and instead just said, "That's good, Kat."

I decided to ask about it later, but at the moment I was interested in something completely different. "What the hell was that stunt you pulled with your scales? A dragon blade was made especially for this, and yet it bounced off your scales. I've never seen anything like it before," I asked with a frown.

"This is my second heritage," he said softly. I raised an eyebrow in question. "I told you that half dragons usually inherit two attributes from dragons. My second heritage is the armored scales of the royal family. Since their extinction at the beginning of the war, this ability has not manifested itself. This makes me the first dragon prince in a long time. And that is why my mission was over too soon. I am the one who will negotiate with the humans on behalf of the dragons."

I stared at him as he smiled at me sheepishly. My mate was a dragon prince.

"Does that mean that I am sitting here with two princes at a campfire right now?" Kaminari asked grinning and looked back and forth between Todoroki and Red.

Red nodded. I only had eyes for him and without knowing why, tears filled my eyes. But then I knew the reason and the happiness that came over me almost overwhelmed me. And when Red looked at me softly, I knew I was right.

Red had the life span of a human. Red and I could be together our whole lives.

I didn't pay attention to the others. I was too happy to care about what they might think. I leaned forward and gently grabbed Red's face with both hands and kissed him. Intense and full of love and just happy.