bakugo and camie both stepped out of the house, camie began to walk towards the forest. "hey dummy," bakugo called out.

"eh?" she pivoted to face him.

"we have to head into town first," he informed the she-cat, gesturing in the opposite direction of which she was walking.

"whaaat? noo," she complained, "whyy?" she whined.

"do you know how to track a dragon?!" he snapped, "lets go," he began walking towards the village.

"i can sniff 'em out!" she lied, "bakugoo!" she whined. she hated going into town, it meant she had to stay in her complete-beast form. she groaned before shifting into her cat-beast form. she grabbed her himation cloak, her dress, with her teeth and flew up onto bakugos shoulder, draping her himation cloak onto his shoulder. he took the clothing and folded it, shoving it into his bag.

they made their way into the town, people greeted bakugo upon entering the villages street market. he lazily returned their greetings then made his way to the place he always went when he was having trouble. it was a small locally owned magik shop, owned by a family of mages. the strongest mage in their entire kingdom owned the shop, but he was never there, his son ran the shop in his absence.

ding!

a small bell rang above their heads as they entered the magik shop. "hi," the clerk at the front desk greeted them. the clerks name was kendo and she simply dealt with purchases.

"hi," bakugo replied as he approached the counter, "is shinso around?" he asked.

"he just left, but he said he'd be back shortly," the clerk responded.

"oh, well is ibara here?"

"i am," ibara replied as she walked into the room. she smiled softly, "i knew i felt a rugged aura walk in here," she teased. her voice was smooth, always calm and collected. she'd probably be rich if she decided to take up asmr.

"that's me," bakugo replied, "the terribly rugged aura," he took camie off of his shoulder and placed her onto the counter.

"and who's this sweet creature," she cooed as she walked over to camie. camie scrunched her nose up slightly, she wasn't a fan of strangers, but the moment ibara placed her hand on camie's head she relaxed. "oh wow," she whispered. "you have a beautiful vibration coming from you," she spoke to the cat-beast. "a free and soft spirit," she said as she pet camie.

"ibara," bakugo said to redirect her attention onto him. she looked up at him.

"hm?"

"i need a favor," he said. he ran a hand through his hair then placed that hand onto the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"anything for my third favorite person," she teased then took her hand off of camie and outstretched it, asking for his hand. he hesitantly reached his hand out, placing it into hers.

"third, huh? i'm pretty sure that last time we spoke i was second," he said. she let out a small laugh then gestured over to camie with her free hand.

"things change," she joked referring to the she-cat then she shut her eyes as she rubbed the pad of her thumb over his hand. she hummed for a moment. bakugo was used to how obscure ibara was, she was overtly spiritual but he enjoyed her presence. her relaxed nature always seemed to help relax bakugo. "you're temperature is high, in a stress related manor," she said, "your aura feels very heavy,"

"right, i-"

"you're worried,"

"i am-"

"about someone you love,"

"well-"

"come and sit," she opened her eyes and walked into the next room, which was the room where she performed aura readings.

"ibara, i don't need to be read," he said, "i need help finding kirishima," he whispered the boy's name so kendo wouldn't hear them. shinso and ibara were the only other people who knew about kirishima, they watched after him when he was younger and bakugo would go away on short trips.

camie hopped off the counter and followed him at his heels. they entered ibara's aura reading room and took a seat on the floor which was covered in pillows. ibara sat crisscrossed. "is he truly lost?" she asked.

"what do you mean?" he asked.

"is he lost, or do you simply not know where he is?" she asked. camie walked up to ibara and curled up near her legs. ibara began to pet her, eyes fixated on bakugo.

"isn't that the same thing?" he asked, furrowing his brows. she shook her head once.

"no," she said simply. "he knows the forest well, how can he be lost?" she asked.

"well," he began. "okay, fine, he isn't lost, i just want to find him," he admitted.

"did he run from you?" she asked.

"yes," he admitted. "he's in his human form-"

"really?" she asked in awe.

"he was finally able to shift,"

"and you've finally accepted he's a boy," she said with a light laugh. "when i told you he was male you wouldn't believe me,"

"because!" he proclaimed, "he looked like his mom and i already gave him a girl name..." he said embarrassedly.

"kirishima is a genderless name,"

"no, i gave him the name ei in my head," he said, "which is a female name,"

"all names are genderless," she said then paused, "but if it bothers you that much, change it," she suggested.

"to?"

"eijiro is a masculine name," she suggested. then they heard the ding of the front door go off.

"hi!" they heard the clerk greet them.

"hey," they heard the familiar voice of shinso.

"shinso!" bakugo called out. shinso walked into the small room.

"oh, bakugo, hi," he greeted the boy, then took a seat next to ibara.

"shinso, darling, bakugo came here because kirishima ran away from him," ibara informed the purple haired mage. shinso looked over at bakugo.

"what? why'd he run away from you?" he asked.

"long story but-"

"he needs help opening up the compass within his heart," she said softly, placing a hand onto her chest.

"or i could borrow you my searching stone," shinso suggested dully.

"physical magic isn't as certain as metaphysical magic," she huffed at the boy.

"i know, love," shinso said then looked over at ibara, "but i have a hard time believing we'll be able to get this guy to open up his heart anytime soon," he said with a smug smirk on his face.

"hey!" bakugo barked, "i could open up my heart if i really wanted to!" he proclaimed, causing shinso to snicker.

"alright, then do it," he teased.

"i- eh..." bakugo stammered, "how?"

"if you don't even know where to start there's no way you'd be able to do it," shinso stated, that dumb smirk still on his face.

"whatever then," bakugo grumbled, "gimme the stupid stone,"

"your wish is my command," shinso joked. he raised a hand then it began to glow subtly, smoke emitted from his palm then with a small 'poof' and a cloud of smoke, a grey stone appeared and fell into his palm. he handed it over to bakugo.

"alright, how does this work," he asked, staring at the stone.

"to test it out, think of ibara for a moment, as if she wasn't here and you were trying to find her," he suggested, "actually, test it out on me," he quickly corrected himself. "i wouldn't want you falling in love with ibaras vibration," he said lightheartedly.

"so you'd rather that he falls in love with your vibration?" ibara asked.

"not to sound negative, since i know you hate pessimism but...i'm positive my vibration is completely cold and dark to most people," he said slyly, "you're the only person who sees past it,"

"people are simpleminded and blind," she stated, running a hand through his hair gently as she gazed into his eyes. these two have been together for years and were still stuck in the puppy-love phase. bakugo would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous, but still, affection always made him feel a bit uneasy.

"okay, if you two could stop being sappy and gross, i'm going to try this out now," bakugo said abruptly, interrupting their moment. he clutched onto the stone, shutting his eyes and imagining shinso wasn't in the room. then he focused on the thought of shinso, he immediately felt the stone grow hot, and a freezing, prickling yet numb sensation fell over his body, then in the darkness he saw a glowing and foggy figure, he felt his body being drawn to it. then he opened up his eyes, and shinso was in the exact spot where that foggy figure was.

"did it work?" shinso asked.

"yeah," he replied. "you do have a scary vibration dude," he admitted, "are you dead or something?" he asked jokingly, with a tinge of condescendence.

"maybe," shinso replied amusedly.

"well, how much for this?" he asked, tossing the stone in the air and re-catching it.

"it's from my personal collection," he said, "you can borrow it, just bring it back," he said as he got up from the floor. he helped ibara up, twirling her as she stood. "guess what i have planned for tonight," he said to the green haired girl.

"hm?" she hummed as she intertwined their fingers.

"gross," bakugo mumbled as he grabbed camie and walked out of the room. "bye!" he called out to the couple.

"bye!" shinso and ibara called out simultaneously.

"i hope you find him," shinso said.

"he will find him, peace be with you katsuki," ibara waved him off, then shinso picked her up bridal style, she let out a laugh. he pressed a kiss onto her cheek as bakugo exited the shop.

"i feel bad for that clerk," he scoffed. camie meowed melodically, as if she were teasing bakugo. "what? what's that mean?" he furrowed his brows as he placed the cat atop his shoulder. she meowed once again in a mocking tone. "are you trying to say i'm jealous? that's what it sounds like," he asked almost rhetorically. "if that's what you're trying to say i'm going to leave you in the forest, the beasts'll eat you and you'll never be able to say dumb stuff ever again," he flicked the cat's nose. she batted her talon at his hand with a small huff.