bakugo's eyes fluttered open, he looked around hazily. god, where am i? he thought for a split second, and only a split second. memories flooded back in the blink of an eye and oh, how he wished he could've kept that ignorance he had woken up with. his chest tightened at the thought of his mother, and he wanted to stay put where he was. he wouldn't have minded living in this dirt cave and starving to death with this dragon. wait. he looked over to the right, where he had last seen the dragon. where's that scaly bastard?! he stood up quickly, banging his head onto the top of the small cave. "ah, fuck!" he exclaimed. he placed a hand onto the spot he had just hit, rubbing his head a bit. he looked around a bit, then walked out of the cave. he looked around for any sign of the red dragon, and found none. none besides the bloodied grass, blood that could've belonged to it, or its mother, or his own mother. he took in, yet another, deep breath. he let it out. he had lost the dragon, he barely cared, he was at least glad that the dumb thing was alive. though he wasn't sure how long it'd survive without it's mother. he looked around one last time before heading home. he walked into the village, all eyes were on him and he knew why. they pitied him, and honestly, in that moment, he pitied himself. word had obviously spread quickly about his mother, she was the strongest member of their entire village and he was sure that most of their pity came from two things, obviously the fact that bakugo was now an orphan, and from the fact that he would have to replace her, as the top beast slayer in their village.

"oi, bakugo," a voice called out, it was the familiar voice of the bakers son, kaminari. bakugo looked over at the boy who was covered in flour, he was always covered in flour, bakugo wondered how much money the bakery lost from such a waste of flour.

"hm?" he hummed in reply, stopping in his tracks.

"i-" he paused, walking up to bakugo. he placed the towel in his hand over his shoulder. "listen, i'm really sorry about what happened," he said in a low voice.

"why're you whispering?" bakugo replied, "as if the whole fucking town doesn't already know!" he yelled, looking around at the people who were staring. kaminari flinched at the boy's words, raising a hand defensively.

"i know, i know, i'm sorry," he said. "i'm really sorry-"

"why're you sorry," bakugo said bluntly, "you didn't kill her," he went on. "are you sorry because she's dead and now i'm all alone, since my old man decided to go and fucking die too, or are you sorry because she was your biggest buyer and now the bakery's at a loss!" he barked. "woe is me," he said sarcastically before starting to walk away. kaminari gulped, tears pricking at his eyes, tears of pity.

"i'm still sorry!" the blonde baker called out to bakugo. "you don't deserve that! no one does!" he said.

"i can think of a few people that do," he muttered, looking around at the people who continued to watch him. shamelessly making a spectacle of him. does no one have a fucking life of their own here? god. they all ought to have their eyes poked out. he thought, his eyebrows furrowed and his chin held high. he refused to look like a charity case. he passed signs, village announcements with his mothers name on them. announcements of her funeral. even in death his family was nothing but a village spectacle, they acted like they respected them, but they didn't. bakugo wished hard for a plague that'd wipe them all out. in this moment, he hated everything.

*

finally, he was home. he walked into their home, turning on the candles. then he heard rumbling in the living room. he furrowed his brows slightly, walking slowly towards the living room. he heard another cling and clang in the living room, he pulled a knife from his bag then leaned into the living room. he poked his head into the room, spotting a shadowy figure which was looking into drawers and around the couch cushions. "oi!" he snarled at the figure, which jumped.

"bak-bakugo?!" the figure called out then bakugo brought his blade in front of him.

"who the fuck-"

"hey! hey man! no!" the figure called out, "i'm your mom's friend!" he said, holding his hands out defensively.

"who?!"

"my names mikael!" he said, taking a step back. "i was one of your mother's hunting partners!" he proclaimed defensively.

"what the fuck are you doing here?!" bakugo asked, lowering his blade a bit but he kept it out, just in case the man was lying.

"i-" he stammered, "i thought you-" he continued to stammer, taking a few side steps.

"what?!"

"i thought you were dead!" he admitted.

"get the fuck out!" bakugo said aggressively, taking a step forward.

"okay! oh- alright!" the other man yelped. they took hesitant and careful steps around each other until the man made his way towards the door, then out of it quickly. bakugo took a few deep breaths, then he pounded his knife into the wall, planning on leaving all of his anger in that knife. he walked away from it.

he went off and sat in the kitchen. he heard a meow at his feet, he looked down to see camie, his late fathers beast. most beast-slayers owned their own beasts, a companion to bring along on the long journeys they went on, so they wouldn't be alone. camie was a nekou, they were cat-like beasts, they had three tails, small wings and talons, the rest of them looked like a normal house cat. they were class D beasts, mostly domesticated. his mothers beast was a lupus, a large wolf-like creature with eight eyes and huge claws. they released that lupus, named seiji, back into the wild. when he lived with them he wasn't well behaved at all, and he hated bakugo for some reason. camie joked often that seiji would visit her in the night, he often wondered if she wasn't joking. the cat-beast meowed louder. "hi camie," he cooed, tapping the table once. she hopped up onto the kitchen table. "why didn't you attack that guy, huh?" he asked rhetorically, "with all your mighty cat strength," he joked, petting her gently. she purred into his hand, "you hungry?" he asked, standing up and heading over to the cabinet. he turned from her and heard a loud poof-ing noise, small clouds of purple smoke were everywhere.

"i want a tuna sandwich," camie said. bakugo looked up at the ceiling, letting out a groan.

"if i turn around and your bare ass is on the table, i'm going to smack the fuck out of you," he said. then he heard her hop off of the table, her bare feet hitting the floor. "go get some clothes on, ya filthy feline," he shooed her away, his eyes fixed onto the ceiling.

"fine, fine," she said, then she walked out of the kitchen. while she was gone, he made her the sandwich, and cleaned the table. dumb cat. he thought as he scrubbed the table thoroughly. camie walked back into the kitchen wearing his mothers clothes, which she always did when she was in her human form.

"so," she said simply, reaching out for the tuna sandwich, "where's mom?" she asked as he handed her the plate. he felt his heart sting as she spoke. he took a seat at the table, then she took a seat. he didn't say a word. "eh?" she said, tapping her claws onto the table. "bakugo?" she asked, picking up the sandwich and taking a bite.

"can you shut the fuck up for a second?" he said, "just one second?" he asked. she furrowed her brows, putting her sandwich down. her cat-like ears flattened against her head, she could sense that his hostility wasn't anger at all.

"b-" she began. "bakugo, what's up?" she said, tilting her head slightly. she pushed the sandwich away, crossing her arms onto the table, and placing her chin onto her forearms. "bakugo?" she asked again. he couldn't find the proper words to tell her.

"she's dead," he finally spat out. then he looked up from the floor and at her face. her pupils had turned into slits, her eyes were wide and her ears were flat against her head.

"stop," she said, "stop messing around," she said, furrowing her brows and forcing a smile. "she could take down anything, that's not-" she stopped, "that's not true," she lied to herself. she could sense that it wasn't true, anyone could sense from bakugos aura that it was true.

"it's true," bakugo said, his leg was shaking up and down, the heel of his foot tapping against the kitchen floor. she tensed up for a moment, then relaxed.

"how?"

"what?"

"how did she-?" she asked, "who do i need to kill?" her eyes began to well up with tears, but her face was stern.

"the beast that killed her is dead," he said simply, then he stood up from the table. he felt jittery, and he knew exactly how camie felt. when he saw his mothers corpse, those were the exact thoughts he had. but the dragon was dead. although, he had let her child live and he knew he couldn't tell camie that, or else she'd kill it.

"dead? dead, okay," she said, taking deep breaths. "dead," she repeated. "what kind of beast was it?" she asked, "it had to be a class A, how the fuck did it kill her so easily?" she asked.

"it wasn't easily!" he protested, "you know she fought her hardest until she drew her last brought, you know nothing could bring her down easily!" he said, slamming his hand down onto the kitchen counter. he felt his hand sting as he brought it back up.

"i know," camie said, "you're right," she said. they were silent for a while.

"it was a dragon," bakugo broke the silence. camie's eyes widened, as if she had put the puzzle pieces together. she nodded slowly.

"oh," she said. they were silent once again. silent for a few minutes until camie spoke up, "you know this means you're the top beast slayer in the village now, right?" she said in a quiet voice.

"i know," he replied. "and that means a lot of things," he said. he ran a hand through his hair, looking over at camie who was now crying. "camie," he said, making his way over to her. he placed a hand onto her shoulder, she immediately began to cry harder. she wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his side. he placed his hand into her hair, neither of them were good with words, no one in their family was, so he comforted her in silence. then they heard a knock at the door. she perked up, "shift," he said to the blonde girl.

"right," she said, poof-ing back into her beast-form, the clothes dropped onto the ground and she ran away from them. beasts weren't allowed to be in their human forms once they belonged to a human themselves. camie had always broken that rule, ever since bakugo was young. she was like a second mother to him, an older sister or something like that. he picked up the clothes she left behind.

"idiot, you left the clothes," he said, then tossed the clothes into the living room. he walked over to the door, hesitating before opening it up. outside of his door stood three knights.

"hello, katsuki bakugo," the one in the middle spoke.

"uh...hi," he replied.

"the king would like you to join him tomorrow morning for a word," he said, "over breakfast," he added.

"about?" he asked.

"well..." they shifted uncomfortably, exchanging glances.

"about my mom," bakugo stated for them.

"yes..." he said. "it's clear that since she's no longer with us, you'll be our kingdoms top beast slayer-"

"do i get any time to mourn her?!" he snapped, "you know, since she's my fucking mom," he scrunched up his nose subtly. "was, she was my mom," he added. the three knights stood there for a moment, silent and uncomfortable.

"she's still your mom," one of them spoke softly.

"and the conversation isn't about her specifically," the middle knight spoke up once again. "it's about the beast she killed," he said, "the dragon," he went on. "that dragon was a class zero beast, worth over five million dollars," he said slowly.

"what?!"

"and since your mother is no longer around, may she rest in peace, the prize money goes to her heir," he said, gesturing towards the boy. "you,"

*

bakugo was lying in bed, wide awake. now that he had time to process all the things that had happened to him in the span of a day, he couldn't sleep. once again, his damned eyes would not stop crying. he was going to be a millionaire by the next day, but he would trade it in the blink of an eye to have his mother back. his thoughts raced, he wished he had told her that he loved her before she left. he wished that he was nicer to her. he wished that she had told him that she loved him. he wished for many things. then his endless stream of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves near his window. he brushed it off as the sound of a squirrel. the rustling only got louder, then he heard a small tapping onto his window. now what. he thought as he sat up, looking over at his window. there was nothing there. he laid back down, and looked back up at the ceiling only to hear the sound of more tapping onto his window. he jumped out of bed, stomping over to the window and opening it up. he leaned out of the window, looking over to the left. then he looked over to the right, at a tall tree near his window. he heard a familiar purring noise coming from the tree. he squinted, then spotted a tail swaying in the leaves. that fucking dragon! he furrowed his brows. "hey!" he called out to the dragon. "get the fuck over here!" he exclaimed. the dragon slowly crept its way, closer to the window, climbing a branch. he emerged from the bushes, into the moonlight. "what the fuck are you doing here?!" he barked at the red dragon which was balancing on the thin end of a branch. the dragon lowered its head. "i'm not letting you in," he said. the dragon began to whimper. "don't do that," he said, "don't give me that pathetic face," he backed up, about to close the window when the dragon jumped, grabbing onto the railing of the window. "what the fuck?!" bakugo barked. "you scaly dumbass! get the fuck out of here, i don't want to see your face!" he screamed, then noticed that he was waking up his neighbors. their candlelights began to flicker on as if they were going to check out what was happening. bakugo pushed the dragons face away, "go! go!" he whispered, "can't you fucking fly?!" he asked rhetorically before remembering that his wing had been damaged. he watched as the neighbors shuffled in their homes, trying to find the source of all the ruckus. "aw, fuck me," he growled, "fuck it, fine, fine!" he stepped out of the way. the dragon clawed its way up, hopping into his room. he closed the window and the curtains, blocking the moonlight. he waited until he knew the neighbors would be asleep, then he opened up the curtains once again, letting the moonlight back in. bakugo turned to the dragon which was on his bed, "hey!" he said, swatting at the dragons face, "get off of my bed," he said. the dragon nipped at his finger. "ow!" he yelped, pulling his hand back. he furrowed his brows, crossing his arms over his chest. he sighed, "fine, you can sleep there," he said. he took a seat onto his bed, next to the dragon. he looked over at the red dragon, which was perked up, intently watching bakugos every move. "do you have a name?" he asked. the dragon tilted its head slightly. "no?" he assumed, then laid down next to it. "i'll call you...dumbass," he said, then the dragon huffed steam from its nostrils onto him. "oi, alright, alright," he said, raising a hand defensively. he thought for a moment, "what about...kenji?" he asked, looking over at him. the dragon didn't seem to react. "hm, no," he said. "what about..." he paused, "kirishima?" he asked, the dragon tilted its head once again. then laid its head down. "kirishima it is," he said. bakugo fell silent for a moment, "you know, i could've left you to die," he said quietly, "but i didn't," he said. "i'm not sure why," he went on, flipping onto his side. "i think it's because you're the only person- er-... thing, that knows what i'm going through," he said, closing his eyes. then his eyes shot open, "wait," he sat up, the dragons eyes shot open as well. "why haven't you turned into your human form yet?" he asked, paused for a moment then answered his own question. "are you too young?" he asked, "because i know that camie didn't have a human form until she was like...twenty," he said, then laid down again. "you must be pretty young," he said, "i wonder if you'll look like camie when you poof," he wondered aloud. "i hope not," he joked. he shut his eyes again, "that'd be super weird," he rambled on. bakugo had always had a hard time talking with other people, but he never found it hard to talk to animals, or in this case, beasts. "by the way," he said, "i'm really sorry about your mom," he apologized, almost as if he was apologizing in place of his mother. the dragon lifted it's head and placed it onto bakugos legs, as if it were apologizing as well, or trying to comfort him. there was a weird sense of comfort in the scaly beast, and with it here, bakugo could finally fall asleep.

*

bakugo was awoken by the loud sound of trumpets coming from outside of his house. he sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking over at the empty side of his bed. he looked over at the window which was open. the dragon had somehow opened the window and left without him noticing. bakugo got out of bed and looked out of the window, he heard trumpets again coming from right outside his house. he looked down to see a group of men in two rows outside of his door. a carriage led by horses with them. "what the fuck is going on?!" he called out to them, they all looked up.

"ah! young bakugo!" the man in the middle called out, he unraveled a scroll and began to read. "a message from the king! he says-"

"i'm guessing 'he wants to see me at once, blah blah breakfast, blah blah money'," he said then walked back into the house to begin getting ready.

*

bakugo went to the castle that morning, had breakfast with the king and met the entire royal family. he didn't like any of them, which was no surprise. although, the princess wasn't terrible, princess momo was a little annoying but she seemed pure of heart. he left that castle a millionaire. they had offered him somewhere to live, a mansion he could buy which was down the road from the castle, but he refused. he decided to live in his family's old home. so he went back home.

that night the dragon visited again, it slept in his bed as he rambled to it. he talked for hours about his worries, and mostly about the people and things he hated.

the dragon began visiting bakugo every single night, it had become a routine. every single night for the next three years.

---

a/n: kirishima wont be a dragon the entire fic, of course, be patieeennntt