three years later.

bakugo was now nineteen years old, he had no cares in the world. he had become the strongest man in their entire village, no, the entire kingdom. he was their top beast-slayer, and he had began to kill the beasts without hesitation.

*

"heyyy! bakugo!" kaminari called out to the spiky haired blond as he walked through the doors of the bakery.

"hey," bakugo replied as he approached the counter.

"i heard they're having a beast auction soon," he said as he prepared bakugo a breakfast sandwich, he already knew what he'd order, he ordered it every morning.

"yeah, and?" he replied. since bakugo was turning twenty soon everyone around him was pressuring him into getting his own beast. twenty was the age when beast-slayers began longer journeys, cross country, which is why it was also the age when beast-slayers usually got their own beasts.

"ya know," the baker said, as he finished up making the sandwich. "don't you want one?" he asked.

"hm," he hummed, "not really," he lied. i already have kirishima, he thought as kaminari wrapped up his sandwich and handed it over to bakugo. bakugo handed the other boy what he owed then he began to leave.

"bye!" denki chimed as the boy left. bakugo waved a hand towards him without looking back. he headed over to the fruit market near his house, buying fresh orange juice. then he headed home, walking in and placing his breakfast onto the counter.

"aww, bakugo, you didn't get me anything," camie whined as she walked into the kitchen, in the nude.

"camie!" bakugo exclaimed, averting his eyes up to the ceiling. "go get some fucking clothes on!" he demanded.

"you're a prude!" she teased, sticking her tongue out at him. then she walked out, heading upstairs to his mother's room for clothes. bakugo sat down and enjoyed his breakfast as he listened to the sounds of ruckus upstairs. he let out a small laugh, then took a drink from his orange juice. "dumb cat,"

*

a few hours later.

knights visited his home with a message from the king. it was a request for breakfast the next morning, he wanted to discuss an assignment. the knight handed bakugo a scroll which contained the assignment they'd discuss.

*

that night.

kirishima crawled through bakugos open window. bakugo was sat up, reading over the scroll, over and over, trying to decide what to do. kirishima laid next to the bed, in the past three years, kirishima had doubled in size. no longer fitting onto the bed. the dragon rested its head in bakugos lap. "hi," bakugo said plainly. kirishima nudged the scroll, wondering what it was that had bakugo so focused. "oh, this is just a scroll the king sent me," he said, the dragon sniffed the paper a few times then looked up at bakugo. "it's an assignment," he said. "he wants me to take his daughter into the neighboring kingdom, by foot," he said, "he says that he's going to have a decoy princess travel there by carriage, and that he wants me to take the real princess through the cities and the forest on foot, without being tracked," he went on. kirishima laid his head back onto bakugos lap. "its going to be a long journey," he said, "i'd be gone for a long while, girl," bakugo had assumed kirishima was a female dragon for all these years for no reason other than how much he resembled his mother. "i wouldn't be able to bring you with," he said. the dragon perked its head up, huffing steam towards him. "what?" he asked almost rhetorically, knowing kirishima was upset by his words. "i kind of have to go, kiri," he said, waving the scroll in the dragons face. "kings orders," he mocked. kirishima grabbed onto the scroll with his teeth, pulling on it. "stop that, shitty scales!" bakugo pulled onto the scroll as well. the red dragon snarled playfully, pulling back on the scroll some more. "you dumb girl, let go!" he said, so kirishima obeyed, letting go suddenly and causing bakugo to pull it back, hitting his own face. "ah!" he yelped, then he furrowed his eyebrows and glared at the dragon. "i'm going to kill you," he said. he jumped at the dragon, gripping his horns, "i'm ripping these off!" he yelled. kirishima jumped up, standing up and stretching his neck up so that bakugo was dangling from his horns. he shook his head once, hard enough to drop bakugo onto the bed. bakugo landed with an "oof," then he narrowed his eyes at the dragon which was hovering over him, "you win this round, lizard," he said. kirishima plopped his head onto bakugos stomach, "gah! you're too heavy!" bakugo protested, trying to move from beneath the dragons head, failing miserably. kirishima began to wag his tail, "oh, so you like watching me suffer?" he said, flicking the dragon on his snout, "ya fuckin sadist," he said. he shut his eyes, prepared to sleep with the dragons heavy head on his bare stomach. "well, goodnight," he said, "and since you disappear every morning, and i'll be leaving tomorrow, i guess this is also goodbye," he said, petting the dragons head. "goodnight and goodbye," he said, then in the blink of an eye he felt the weight of the dragons head disappear, along with a loud poof-ing noise. his eyes shot open to the sight of clouds of red smoke.

"you can't leave me!" he heard an unfamiliar voice call out.

"what the FUCK?!" he said as he laid eyes upon what was just the dragon. in it's place stood a teenage boy, his hair was red, the same shade of red as the dragon-like human he had seen before. his two huge wings were perked up and he had two prominent horns poking out of his forehead and... the boy was naked. "kiri-" he began, then he jumped, tossing his blanket onto the boy. "kirishima! you're fucking naked!" he exclaimed.

"oh!" the boy chirped, wrapping himself in the blanket he had just been given.

"y-" bakugo was nearly left speechless. "you can shift?!" he asked rhetorically, the answer was merely two feet in front of him.

"i didn't know i could," kirishima said softly.

"and you're a boy?!"

"i-" kirishima peeked under his blanket absentmindedly. "yes?" he replied. bakugo ran a hand through his hair, processing what had just happened.

"so," he said, "okay," he began, "this is embarrassing," he muttered. kirishima felt his own cheeks heat up, he was getting to see bakugo for the first time with human eyes, and it felt amazing. his dragon eyesight distorted his vision, and made everything he saw a yellowish tint, but now he could see bakugo clearly. he looked even more beautiful.

"how so?" kirishima asked hesitantly.

"i mean, i told you a lot of stuff," he said, he couldn't find the strength to look kirishima in his eyes.

"yeah?" he replied, "i'm still the same person!- er.. dragon!" he chirped. bakugo finally decided to look up at the other boy. he was far more attractive than he thought he'd be, for one he thought kirishima was a girl, and he thought he was a way younger than he is. bakugo collected himself with the thought that he was, in fact, the same dragon that bakugo had known all of these years.

"let me grab you some clothes," bakugo said, standing up and heading over to his small closet where he kept his clothing. he handed the boy underwear and a fur to wrap around his waist. bakugo averted his eyes as the boy struggled a bit to get dressed, bakugos underwear was a bit tight. then he sat down onto the bed. kirishima got onto the bed.

"ya know, bakugo-" kirishima began as he crawled onto the bed, plopping down. he stared at his human hand for a moment, then he tucked it under his cheek. he was enjoying being a human more than he thought he would. "you look way prettier when i look at you with these eyes," he said. bakugos cheeks heated up subtly.

"wha-" bakugo turned to look at the dragon-boy, "shut the fuck up," he said flicking the boy on his nose. kirishima smiled at him, causing bakugos stomach to flip. oh no, he's cute. he thought before looking away. and i have to sleep next to him. he laid down hesitantly next to the red haired boy. bakugo lay, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before he looked over at kirishima whose eyes were wide open, looking right back at bakugo. the blond quickly looked back up at the ceiling, an embarrassed blush spreading across his face. i can't tell if this is the best thing that's ever happened to me or the worst. he shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again after a thought crossed his mind. "hey," he said quietly.

"yes?" kirishima replied softly.

"why'd you shift?" he asked. kirishima was silent for a moment.

"i didn't do it on purpose," he said, "i didn't know i could shift yet, i've tried before and failed, but i wasn't trying to," he admitted. then after a short pause he spoke, "i just felt a lot of emotions, and then i just... poof!" he said, reaching out a hand towards bakugo, slowly and extremely hesitantly.

"then..." bakugo said, "if you're not really sure why it happened..." he said, "why do you think it happened?" he asked. kirishima hesitantly placed a single finger onto the side of bakugos bicep. he traced his finger along the boy's bicep. it was extremely odd for kirishima, these hands, this view, everything.

"because..." he said, "i didn't-...i don't want you to leave me behind," he said. bakugo shut his eyes tight, then opened them again, he felt like he was trapped in some sort of weird dream.

"kirishima,"

"hm?"

"i have to go," he said, "i have to take this assignment, it's my first one, it's important," he said, "i have to,"

"so take me," kirishima pleaded.

"i can't,"

"why not?" it was clear in kirishima's tone that he was on the verge of tears.

"you're a dragon," bakugo said bluntly, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. kirishima didn't respond, he just sniffled a bit. he knew that bakugo was right, that the king would kill him, and if not the king then just about anyone else would. kirishima buried his face into bakugos arm, crying silently. bakugo knew why the dragon was crying, he was all kirishima had left in this life. bakugo felt tears prick up at the corners of his eyes as well, he hadn't cried since his mother's death, yet the sound of kirishima crying brought him to tears easily. kirishima extended his wing over bakugo, covering him like a blanket. bakugo eventually fell asleep, kirishima clinging onto his arm. that strange sense of security and comfort he felt from the dragon sent him to sleep once again. kirishima couldn't sleep, he stayed up until sunrise.

*

kirishima watched the sun rise, that was when he finally shut his eyes. before he could fall asleep he felt the blond boy move beneath his wing. his eyes shot open again. if it were any other day kirishima would have left by now, but it wasn't like any other day. bakugo was leaving him, not forever, but for a while and kirishima didn't know how to be alone. plus kirishima was in his human form, and he had no idea how to switch back, and he had no idea how he'd maneuver in the forest in this body. human bodies were soft. kirishima nuzzled his face into the side of bakugos bicep. very soft.

"mmnnh," the blond boy grumbled in his sleep. kirishima brought his face back so he could look at bakugo. the boy's lips were parted and his facial expression seemed so soft. in his sleep, no one would ever be able to guess the amount of aggression and trauma he carried within his body. kirishima smiled to himself, raising a hand and gently playing with the boy's blond hair.

crrreeeaak.

his wing, which was over bakugo, shot up towards the ceiling as kirishima looked over his shoulder. the door had just been pushed open by a small cat-like beast. the beast poofed into it's human form, wide eyed, clearly shocked at the sight of a dragon in bakugos room. who wouldn't be? kirishima stared blankly at the nekou, who stared blankly right back at him.

"i-"

"what the FUCK?!" she screamed, her ears pushed forward and her pupils were slitted. kirishima hopped out of the bed, rushing over towards the window, but he knew he couldn't leave, he had no idea how to work this stupid human form. he couldn't just go back to the forest. bakugo grumbled in his sleep, tossing over onto his side. "BAKUGO!" she screamed, and kirishima felt like he had lost his voice. bakugo woke up, he was obviously dazed as he sat up and tried to take in the sight of both the beasts in his room. kirishima placed a hand onto the windowsill, ready to jump out if she decided to attack him.

"woah, hey!" bakugo jumped out of the bed, rushing to defend kirishima. he stood in front of the scared dragon and raised a hand defensively towards the other beast.

"is that-" she was clearly enraged, she could barely start a sentence without getting choked up. "is he a fucking dragon?! is that a dragon?!" she yelled, her nose was scrunched up as a faint hissing sound emitted through her mouth.

"camie, listen!" bakugo tried to piece together what to say. "listen, fuck-"

"listen to what?! there's no excuse in the world that could justify bringing a fucking murderer into our home!" she provoked.

"i'm not a murderer!" kirishima managed to choke out. he gripped onto the windowsill with one hand and onto the back of bakugos arm with his other hand. the alienation he felt in that moment was like no other. he felt absolutely worthless, despite knowing that she was wrong, he wasn't a murderer, he was a decent creature. he was kind, he would never hurt anyone. he hated any form of bloodshed, he even hated watching bakugo hunt, but he loved spending time with bakugo so he pushed those feelings aside.

"camie-" before bakugo could speak, camie lunged at the dragon with full force, clawing at his face. she scratched him, hard but bakugo managed to push her down to the ground as kirishima jumped out of the window, grabbing onto a broken tree branch. he let go and began to run towards the forest. "kirishima!" bakugo called out. he turned to camie, "fucking listen to me!" he screamed. "his mom is dead too! our mom killed his mom!" he proclaimed, "that very same day!" he snapped. then he began to pack a traveling bag, as camie sat on the floor and watched him. she was shocked, to say the least.

"i-..." she mumbled.

"i'm going after him," bakugo said. he swung his bag onto his shoulder then looked at the window that kirishima had just jumped out of. there were droplets of blood on the windowsill, camie had definitely wounded him. "when the knights come...just tell them i'll see the king later today,"

"i'll just leave them a note,"

"what?"

"i'm coming with you," she said, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"you've done enough," he said as he made his way out of the door. she scrambled to her feet and followed after him.

"bakugo, you know i had no idea," she began, bakugo kept walking. "if you were me, you would've done the same!" she snapped. bakugo stopped. "the first time and only time i've seen a dragon, bakugo, was when it was murdering my owner, our father," she said slowly, "the second time i heard of a dragon, it was the one who murdered our mother," she took a step towards him. "i saw a dragon in your room, the third dragon i'd ever heard of, and he was right next to my vulnerable brother," she said. "how was i supposed to know that he was one of us..." she trailed off then firmly stated, "i need to apologize... i'm coming with you," bakugo turned to face her.

"fine," he said, then turned back towards the stairs, "go put some damn clothes on,"

---

a/n: so much angst and tears...it'll get fluffier soon, i promise! ALSO. PSA: this is a fantasy au, set in very old times, nudity isn't seen as a sexual thing in this universe. so when i stated that bakugos mother didn't wear shirts, i meant it, boobs aren't seen sexually in this close-to-medieval setting.