#But I hit almost full term before Bakugo finally reaches back out…

[saturnsorbits]

There’s a secret line AU of my self-ship, where before Bakugo realises he’s actually in love with Kirishima and not me, he gets me pregnant and we have to co-parent…

[bunnyramen]

I just would like to give a big Happy Birthday to @kalofi , shes officially an old woman we shall plan accordingly on which nursing home you have to go to.

All jokes aside, it’s a been good year as your friend and uh. I hope you like this! Happy birthday!!💕💕

——-

A figure rose up out of a bed that wasn’t his own.

Josuke didn’t sleep on a bed covered in a queen bed spread, his was Prince and the under sheet was purple.

“What the hell?” That wasn’t his voice either, it was a bit lighter than his own but still had a sort of gruffness to it.

He looked at his hands and noticed they were smaller than his longer piano fingers, and covered a bit more scars than his own.

Josuke looked around the room with eyes that also weren’t his own, well eye since one seemed to be blind.

There were some Bruce Lee, Prince, Queen, Elton John and Selena posters hung around the room.

And despite the gaudy curtain and muscle clock, whoever this was had some taste.

He pulled the covers off of someone and someones feet touched soft carpet, rising out of someone’s bed.

God, was this what it was like to not be 6 feet tall? Small like Koichi?

He touched at the hair framing his face, some of it white and some of it a bright red.

And he ran a tongue over the teeth in his mouth.

They were razor sharp!

“What the fuck?!” A voice screamed and the wall next to him was punched, telling him to shut up.

He didn’t recognize the voice.

Ok, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

Speaking of attack, was this the work of a stand?

Where was the bastard? He had to neutralize him before he did some serious damage to Morioh!

But he couldn’t go anywhere in pajamas that weren’t his.

He went over to where presumed the clothes were, the dresser that had a boom box and plenty of boxes of tapes next to it.

He opened the first drawer and grabbed a white t-shirt with green accents.

He looked up on the wall and saw a picture on the wall, one of the kids in it was presumably the body he was inhabiting, judging by the hair and teeth.

Next to him was a angry blonde kid, who kind of looked like he got hit in the face with a hot shovel by his standards.

Maybe it was just the really ugly face he was making.

Luckily they were wearing school outfits, so he was able to figure out what he was supposed to normally wear.

A pair of green pants came onto his body next, a belt then a pair of purple socks.

He looked near the small closet in the room, seeing a pair of red Velcro shoes in front of them.

He figured it was time to brush his teeth and wash his face, and see what the hair situation was like,

He saw a large jar of hair gel sitting on the desk next to the bed and he grabbed it.

��Thank god, I didn’t wanna walk around with this hair all day.” His-er the kids inner voice said.

This was going to be weird since not only was his mom not here but there seemed to be more than one person on this floor.

Was he in a apartment or something?

Or some kind of dorm?

While he was thinking, he located the placement of a face towel and pulled a toothbrush from the boxes and boxes of toothbrushes in the kid’s closet.

He opened the door, peeking out into the hallway and seeing an empty get colorful looking ceiling and flooring.

He closed the door behind himself, thankful that he could be on his own while his mind was racing about where the fuck he was and who the fuck he was.

He went down the hall and got to an elevator.

“Must be some rich kid school or something.” He pushed the button for the second to last floor, figuring that was where the bathroom was.

Hopefully.

——

After asking another person than the original 2 he asked (that seemed to wanna chit chat), he finally located the bathroom.

He got in front of a mirror and finally got to see what the hell was he was working with.

He had to admit, the guy he was pretty handsome, at least he wasn’t stuck in someone ugly.

Like that Guy with that surface stand.

Or that little purple dude that he came across that kept chatting up with the girls in a gross way, he socked him one good with some kind of rock hand on his way here.

And it was weird since Crazy Diamond didn’t show up to punch the fucker for him.

Anyways, he did his hair in his usual pompadour, pretty much a second nature that it he got it done in less than 3 minutes.

While he waited for it to dry, he brushed his teeth and washed his face, having to periodically spit out bristles since they kept coming out when he gave these teeth a full cleaning.

He walked out of the bathroom but held the door open for some kid with a lightning bolt in his head since he was coming while he was trying to walk out.

“Woah! Trying a new look, Kirishima?” A pink girl with black eyes asked and he’d almost mistaken her for some kind of alien stand user but he didn’t sense anything from her.

“Uh haha, yeah! I’ll catch you later, Pink girl.” He laughed awkwardly, patting her on the back before he started to walk away.

He seems to be walking through a dining room, judging by the multiple people eating cereal.

God, he really missed his mom right now. He wondered what the other kid was like towards her. He hoped he got switched with someone nice.

“Your hair looks even more shitty than usual.” A low voice said from the end of the table he was walking past.

He looked to see the kid in the picture, hot shovel face.

“The fuck did you say about my hair?” A fire lit in his gut but it was pure hot red anger from himself , instead of the anger from him and his stand combined.

Bakugo took that as him not hearing what he said, so he said it again.

And that really set in stone was this body was about to do to him.

He punch him directly in the face, knocking over the cereal that was balancing in his spoon and ignored the gasps of the bystanders.

He would’ve went back for another but he was being pulled away by this really tall dorky guy.

He admitted to himself that the guy was pretty handsome.

“Eijirou, what has gotten into you?!” He pulled him away further as the blonde stood up with anger written all over his face.

“No one insults the hair of the man that saved me! No fucking one!” He tried pulling away from the nerdy dude but boy was he strong.

The lighting bold guy seemed to have to hold the other dude back from trying to let off some kind of explosion near him.

“Who saves you?” Mina looked confused.

“Look, My name is Josuke and that hot shovel faced asshole insulted the hair of the person that saved my life!”

“Josuke? Wait hold on, you’re saying your not Kirishima Eijirou.”

“No! I got switched with him by some kind of stand user or something! Now let me go so I can pummel him!”

“A stand?” Mina looked at him weirdly.

“Fuck.” He was hoping this “Kirishima” kid wasn’t doing anything weird with his body or messing up anything.

——

“So this is what it’s like to be tall!” Kirishima ran down the stairs of a house he didn’t at all recognize and was greeted by a rather tall purple haired woman when he reached the kitchen he presumed.

Maybe tallness ran in the family.

“Hello, Ma’am.” He waved at her nervously, not sure of who the woman was or who’s body he was in.

The lady picked up a knife, holding it towards Kirishima threateningly, the boy backing away.

“Who are you and where is my baby?” She said darkly, the knife glinting in the light.

“Huh?”

“Josuke never calls me ma’am. And he never comes down those stairs with his hair undone unless it’s a weekend.” The knife was getting dangerously close to his neck.

“I’m sorry but I’m not your son. I’m Kirishima Eijirou, and I’ve switched bodies with him, I think? I don’t what’s going on or who you are.” Either this Josuke kid could sweat a lot, or his sweat glands got transferred to this body.

“Switched? But where’s my baby?” She wasn’t holding the knife to his neck anymore but she still looked prepared to slice and dice him.

“I think he’s in my body. This could be the work of a quirk user or something, I’m not too sure.”

The lady fainted suddenly, the knife coming out of her hand and clattering to her floor.

“Oh fuck!” He was about to approach her to try and see if she was ok but a new figure bursted in, the door being unlocked by an outside force, probably a key.

“Josuke?” The new comer asked, his eyes shiny as he took in the scene in front of him.

“Hey man, it’s not what it looks like! She fainted, and I don’t know what’s going on!” God, was everyone the type to fight first and ask questions later here?

The guy came over in a few strides and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, the motion alerting this really big pink guy that smelled oddly like strawberries.

“Crazy D, you know who this guy is?” The guy was really strong or something since he just shook him like a limp rag doll.

‘Crazy D’ looked at him with a weird glare, and the guy shook his head, shrugging with a confused “Dora.”

“What is that?” He pointed behind the guy, The Hand having been summoned at the mention of Crazy D.

“You’d know that if you were Josuke, and so since I don’t wanna cave my own boyfriends face in without giving whoever you are a chance, you got five seconds.” The guy robot he summoned looked ready to slice him in half too.

Normally, Kirishima would fight back but since he had no idea who he was, where he was, or what he was working with in terms of fighting back, he decided to bitch out just this once.

“I’m Kirishima Eijirou, I go to U.A, Im from Musustafa, I’m 16 years old, and my quirk is Hardening!” He flinched away when he felt that his explanation wasn’t good enough, but the punch didn’t come.

The guy let go of his collar.

“Alright, a stand user trying to actively kill us wouldn’t give himself away like that but I swear to god if you try anything funny, you’ll be having a talk with the hand.” The boy glared at him, making sure that hand thing was on stand by.

While the guy helped Tomoko onto the couch, Kirishima went to the nearest phone and dialed the number in.

There were a couple rings before he heard an energetic ‘Present Mic speaking!”

“Daddi-o!”

“Eijirou?”

“Yes!”

“Thank goodness! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m in this Josuke kid’s house and I have like no idea where I am!”

“You’re in Morioh.” The guy said from the couch, where he was helping Tomoko wake up.

“This guy said I’m in Morioh!”

“My names Okoyasu.”

“I’m with Okoyasu. Luckily, he let me speak before he tried icing me out.”

“At least we’re know you’re safe! The kid in your body, his name is Josuke and he’s actually a pretty nice kid when he stopped trying kill Bakugou. Something about his hair, it’s actually pretty cool, you should see it-”

There was a struggle over the phone and a brief ‘hey!’ Before he recognized his dad’s tired voice being put on the phone.

“We captured the villain. Luckily it wasn’t what this Josuke kid calls a ‘stand user’ otherwise it’d be up to you and you’re not able to control his stand.”

“Thank goodness. Dad, How soon can I get my body back?”

“Well, actually the quirk only lasts for a few hours and it should end right about now. Brace yourself.”

Kirishima dropped the phone from his hand and blacked out, he doesn’t remember hitting the ground.

“Hey, Kirishima!” He felt someone patting his cheek, trying to rouse him from his sleep.

He blinked his eyes, a blurry vision of pink and yellow coming into view.

“If your really Kirishima finish this phrase.” Sero said from above him, he could presume he was probably on the ground right now.

“Precisely.“ Kaminari started, Kirishima’s eyes lighting up.

“Damn, I’m late for school!” He sat up, actually seeing that the arms he was fist pumping were his and the friends he was looking at were his.

“Woah, hold the phone!” He looked up at his forehead and saw something blocking his view. “What is this?” Kirishima grabbed his pocket mirror, because he’s he owned a pocket mirror for just such occasions of keeping his spikes in order.

But it wasn’t spikes.

It was a pompadour.

“Yo Daddi-o, can I borrow your phone?” Kirishima asked Present Mic after his friends helped him off the floor and into a chair.

He called the last number, and it rung for a second before a voice he recognized answered the phone.

“Tomoko speaking?”

“Hello Mrs. Tomoko, I’m the kid your son switched bodies with. Sorry for the uh..trouble.” The redhead coughed.

“No trouble at all, as long as I have my son back in his rightful place and you back in yours. Would you like to talk to him? He says he’d very much like to talk to you.”

Kirishima heard Josuke whine to his mom to stop embarrassing him.

“Hello?”

——-

[izzyhunterscar]

Not Your Barbie Girl (pt.1)

OP! Villianous! Murderous! Reader X Tomura Shigaraki

WARNING! Before reading this, you are not in good terms with any UA people so if you happen to like some heroes, spoiler you don’t got a good relationship with them.

        (Y/n) (L/n) was a girl who could be feared, yet she wasn't. Why? Simple. The (h/c) haired girl was the kindest most generous student in class 1-A, or Yuuei for that matter. She was the "Extra Student", entering at the same time as the rest, but only put in the class recently as there was a mix up at the beginning.

         You needed something? She got you covered. Words of encouragement? She poured them out on you. Need free time and have stuff to do? Just dump your work on (Y/n) and she would do it with a smile while you left to train, party, or whatever you chose.

        Now to answer the question, why should she be feared? Her quirk was powerful if used correctly. She could control both animate and inanimate objects, bringing an inanimate object to life or simply shutting down your organs with just a glance. (Y/n) was taught to always put others before herself, as a hero should, however she took her parents words too seriously and put others before her own well being at the cost of her sanity.

        The others? They thought she was a very kind girl, she was a huge pushover though. It led to bullying from people she never knew and pity from onlookers who watched her get pushed around but did nothing to help her.

        Now to her present state. She couldn't take it anymore. The Sports festival was coming up and all anyone wanted to do was train, so they simply asked her to do everything they had. And adding up every student who dumped the work on her, she had no time to herself.          She sat crying, students papers laying around her. "I-I don't want to do this anymore!" She wiped her eyes repeatedly. "Mom...Dad....why do they just shove me around like a toy? I smile and I take it. Don't talk back. Don't talk back. Don't talk back. Just take it. Just take it. Be nice. Be nice. Nice is good. Nice. Help. Nice is good. Don't be mean. Don't be mean. I don't. I don't. I don't want this. Is this what hell feels like? Mom, Dad. I'm sorry." She sobbed out, her eyes closing. (Y/n)'s body slumped down. Her breathing slow, tears drying on her face. The Sports festival was only a day away. (Y/n) still slept, unknown to the world. The students who gave her their work continued their training with no feelings toward the work they put on the poor girl. Unaware of her sanity deteriorating in her hibernation. Finally it was time. Sunlight shined in her room, running over her sleeping face. No sounds were made as (Y/n)'s eyes opened. The (h/c) haired girl stood up, her head tilting at all the papers around her. She raised her hand and snapped. The papers turned to dust and floated away. She smiled, showing the growing fangs. Her hair was longer, almost reaching the floor. She hummed and skipped out of her small house, fanged smile still present. She reached the school and entered her class waiting room. She sat down on a bench, hands folded into her lap. Eyes smiling with her ever present fangs. Soon enough the freshmen are called out and she follows her class out to the middle of the stadium. A familiar ash blonde goes on stage and speaks, causing an uproar. Her ears are deaf to his words and the screams, she stands tall and makes no acknowledgement of the loudness around her. The first event comes, an obstacle race. It begins and everyone leaves her in the dust.  "What is this? (L/n) is just standing at the beginning...uhh...smiling." Present Mic announces to the audience. They all watch her with curious and some furious eyes. "(L/n)?" (Y/n) turns her head slowly towards the announcing box, she raises her hand and snaps. In an instant she's at the end, still smiling.  The teachers stare blankly in shock. She's never done that before, at least not to their knowledge. The audience is loving her. Cheering her last name.  "(L/n)! (L/n)!"  However, they fall on deaf ears as she waits at the end, watching furious and surprised eyes of everyone who comes to the end. Katsuki rages at her, yelling as to how she got there. She didn't even look his way. Next event, the cavalry battle. (Y/n) had received the ten million point headband and let it dangle from her neck. She kicked at the ground, creating her own team, frozen in a position holding  her up. She crossed her legs and leaned back on the "frozen people" she created. It was bending the rules a little, but she was allowed her "team" because it really just gave everyone else an advantage and it was her choice. Monoma glared at her, despising her cockiness. "Stupid, 1-A, think they are so cool."  Everyone got in their teams and it began. Everyone came at (L/n) first, but could never reach her, it was like an invisible wall or more like a box surrounded her. They pounded and used their quirks coming at all angles, her feet never hit the ground and they couldn't reach her. Every angle was covered by this invisible boundary. It frustrated everyone, wanting nothing more to steal the points that dangled right in front of their face. (Y/n) was only using a fraction of her powers to keep them out. And smiled at each angry face. It reminded her of when they all asked for her to do their work and she once said no. She lifted her arm up and waved it around like she was conducting an orchestra. The ground rumbled, stone soldiers rose from the ground, constricting every student on the field. Another stone soldier moved faster than the other and stole every headband from the teams, returning into her box and kneeling presenting her with all the headbands. She took the headbands and jumped down, the soldiers using their hands as steps so she never touched the ground. She held the headbands up and dropped them at the edge of the boundary. The soldiers sank back into the ground and everyone charged at the headbands, (Y/n) standing right behind them. They all smacked into the invisible wall. Shoto froze everyone and tried to freeze through her "walls". The ice couldn't even touch the barrier.

She tilted her head, watching the struggles of all the other students. 

Tomura watched intently, fascinated by the evil dominance in a hero in training. He wanted her for himself. She proved herself a force to be reckoned with and he wanted her on his side. He saw her distaste for the students around her, her smile didn't hide anything. 

Soon the battle ended. The timer hitting zero, everyone but (Y/n) with no points. She sat patiently in the stands as they tried to decide who would continue. 

Of course, the favored class, 1-A, a lot of their students were set to be in the individual fights. Oh (Y/n) couldn't wait!

The hero's moved some people around, unsure of who would be a good battle to watch now that she changed the game. They had a plan set, she wasn't even on their radar, but she showed two cards and they had to shuffle.

It would be a lie to say a few heroes were worried she was too powerful. Most doubted her, talking shit like she was just a master at tricks.

They decided to have her as the final champion. Letting all the other students who continued on have a fair chance to reach the podium. She made no expression of caring whether she fought now or later, just standing there with her creepy fanged smile. The battles seemed to go by quickly, time holding no power over her as she waited for her turn.  Shoto and Katuski stood ready in the arena, about to fight each other. She just glanced down and found herself in the middle of the arena. And for the first time she spoke. "Well done, heroes. You almost made it to me. Sadly, I have a schedule to keep. He watches but I know who you are, I know where you are." She looked at the camera. The live television zooming in on her face. Tomura cackled, wanting nothing more to show her his power, to show her she's nothing to him. He sat back and scratched the back of his neck, the skin peeling much like the rest of him. "What the fuck are you saying, you dipshit?" Katsuki asked in his regular angry tone. "You're interrupting our battle. I'm going to win and fight you. And then I'll be in first." Shoto rolled his eyes but glared at her. "You may have an interesting power, but you are nothing to me."

She scoffed. "I don't think I ever asked what either of you thought. I'll end this now." With a smile she snapped. Both boys fell down in pain, coughing up blood. She glanced towards the hero Eraserhead and swiped her hand in the air.  "Shit." Aiziawa held onto a nearby wall. "I can't see anything. I can't stop her." The crowd went into a panic, trying to make a beeline for the exits. A barrier stopped them and like puppets they all were forced back into their seats and faces turned to the arena. "You wanted a battle. I'll give you a slaughter." Both boys gasped and continued bleeding out. "You have no chance, (Y/n). This place is full of heroes." They tried to scare her with their words. "Did you really think, I didn't know that? I did say this was a slaughter did I not?" She spun around happily waving her hands in a graceful way. Every hero that showed up to the sports festival was plucked from their spot and teleported in a line in the center of the arena. "My my, the great heroes! It's so nice of you to come! Who wants to die first? It seems we are missing the number one hero, but you all shall do!" She then released them. "Let's fight!" They all had their quirks at the ready and charged at her, much like the Cavalry battle. They all ended up running through her. The image flickered and disappeared. "I'm over here you idiots!" Giggling she waved from the other side of the arena. The moment they turned, she snapped. All the heroes gasped and choked, clawing at their chest.  "Help..." They all managed, in a blink of an eye, their hearts burst from their chests. Blood splattered on Bakugo and Todoroki, the look of horror painted on their faces.  She left Endeavor the only hero in the arena alive. "And this is why you'll always be number two. Can't even save your fellow heroes. Such a shame. Not." She circled him. "How do you want to die?" He only glared at her. "I guess I'll decide. You can die like the rest did! Because you are nothing, not even worthy of being called the second hero." She snapped and disappeared. Endeavor's heart lay where she once stood. After she left, chaos ensued. Heroes’ bodies littered the battlefield and the people ran in horror. The students and heroes that were left were in shock. No one knew what to do. They just lost two-thirds of the pro heroes and later discovered twenty students dead, a few from class 1-A and more from general studies and 1-B. After that fiasco, it was with no doubt she would be branded as a villain. She told the media she wanted to be called Smile, leaving with her never ending smile. She knocked on a run down door.  A blonde girl answered. "O! Fang gang! TOMURA! The girl you mentioned before is here!!! She still smells like death!" She walked in and found Tomura, he glared at you. "Who said you could just walk in?"  (Y/n) just smiled and said. "I did. You uncultured swine. Learn manners and invite your guests in." Tomura growled and grabbed her wrist with all five fingers.  Everyone waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. She patted him on the head with your free hand. "Was something supposed to happen....Tenko?" She whispered in his ears. She then removed his hand from her wrist. "Aw, did you just want to touch me? I know no one would want to touch your dry flaky dumbass but you shouldn't force yourself on me. Bad first impression, my dude." Dabi let out a chuckle and Tomura went red faced. "How dare-" She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Anyways, my name is (Y/n)! Please take care of me. Or die." She smiled.

[dragonhrte]

Destiny? Chapter Eight: Neither Here Nor There

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for giving this work a read! Quick disclaimer, for all intents and purposes MHA/BNHA are not mine they do not belong to me. The manga and anime have inspired me to write this fiction and dialogue as well as events are given credit to the beautiful people who have blessed us with this series. Aside from standard story line events this work is mine. Don't forget to comment and heart! This story references events from previous chapters, if something does not make sense, feel free to reread from the beginning.

Please note that

*abc* is a sound effect

'abc' is internal thoughts of whomever

"abc" is dialogue

(abc) is a side note from yours truly ;)

~Love, DragonHearte

I open the door to Max's apartment after an extremely eventful day at school, stopping briefly to take my shoes off at the door. I walk into my room and see the bed in front of me as I drop my backpack to the floor. I flop down, and sleep overtakes me.

I wake up, through bleary eyes and see that it’s the next morning. ‘Damn, same dream. When will the nightmares stop?’ I throw the blanket off of me and hesitate for a moment. ‘Wait I went to sleep on top of my bed covers last night?’ I don’t dwell on the thought for too long before I walk out into the kitchen, and Max is there drinking his morning cup of coffee. I rub my eyes tiredly and then see Max look up at me, he has a strange look on his face as he says, “Damn, Eva, you look like you were run over by a bus.”

“Wow, thanks. Why don’t you tell me how you really feel Max.”

“What happened, are you okay? I heard your class got attacked by villains. I called you and texted you, but you didn't respond to me. I was very worried, until I came home and saw your door open with you passed out on top of your bed. I gave you a spare blanket from the hallway closet.”

“Yeah, some villains ambushed my class. I’m fine, I didn’t get hurt. I had the nightmare, that’s all.”

“Oh, it was one of those nights.”

“Yeah,” I breathe in deeply as I start to recall the dream.

‘I sit up on a bed, it was dark all around me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes to try and get a clearer view of the room, it was then that I noticed the broken full-length mirror to my right and the door to my left with a crack running diagonally across it, from one side to the other. I was back there, at the other house. I try to move, but my hands are tied to the bedposts, my lower half  frozen in place from the waist down. I look around the room frantically hoping that it won’t turn out like every other time I have this dream. I am out of luck though because like always there he is in the corner of the room, a cold smile on his face as he approached me.’ I felt tears prick the back of my eyes as the memory of the past forced me to relive the experience.

‘There are tears streaming down my face as he leans down and wipes them away with the pad of his thumb, and he stands over me face full of what he claims to be love. His twisted version of love, is a sick realm of lies. A web that I am helplessly caught within. A result of a system created to protect me. He hangs above me like a spider above it’s prey, watching in delight as I struggle against my restraints. Then all eight of his hands proceed with their torture. Handling me in ways I don’t want. Touching me, caressing me, groping me with no signs of stopping. With the constant whisper of “I love you” after each and every movement. “I just want to show you how much I love you.'' There was a flash of crimson and then I woke up.’ I take in a deep shuddering breath and realize I’m trembling slightly from the memory.

Max stands up and wraps me in a hug, secure and safe. A stark contrast to the tight and suffocating hold the past still has on my subconscious. He leans back and says, “I’m sorry you had to relive that, just know that I’m here for you if you ever need me okay?”

“Uh-huh.” I reply.

“Oh, by the way the school sent me an email. There aren’t any classes today, which makes sense considering yesterday’s events.”

“Mhmm.” I respond quietly, still a bit tired and drained.

“Well kiddo, I’m going to head to work. Text me if you need anything okay?”

“Yup.” I look on as Max puts on his shoes and leaves. I sigh and shuffle back into my room, ‘There’s no point in trying to go back to sleep now. I’m kinda scared it’ll just continue from where it left off.’ I look down at my backpack that was tossed haphazardly to the side and decide to do my homework after a nice soak in the tub. ‘A bit of self-care after such a stressful day yesterday and that dream is a must.’ I gather my bubble bath supplies from under the sink in my en-suite bathroom. They're rarely used, but come in handy on days like this. I start by turning on the tub faucet, and adding a pink and purple bath bomb into the tub. Then, lighting some tea lights around the tub edges, and some larger candles in the corners. After stripping down and turning off the water at the desired depth, I delve into the warm bath I have prepared for myself. The swirls of color on the surface of the water and the slight aroma allowing me to finally attempt to relax after the ordeal from yesterday morning. ‘Taking a bubble bath and focusing on what caused me to snap will probably help me redirect my focus from my nightmare.’

I heave a big sigh and reflect, images of the fight flashing through my mind as I tried to sort through my thoughts, while taking my loofah and scrubbing away the grime and residual dirt from the day before. ‘Let's do a bit of a step-by-step walk through, to try to figure out what happened in the collapsed zone today. I was fighting beside Kirishima, I got a taste for what it feels like to get hit by Bakugo’s quirk.’ I wince at the memory, ‘Note to self, at least in terms of potency of Bakugo’s quirk he is not in fact all bark and no bite. Then, I saw Kirishima look alarmed at something behind me, when I turned around, there was a villain laying on the floor face covered in blood, her nose smashed. Then after the exchange between Bakugo and Kirishima I looked at my hands to discover they were covered in blood.’

I look down at my hands and scrub at the dried blood in the crevices surrounding my nails. ‘So, clearly whatever caused me to lose control happened somewhere between fighting side-by-side with Kirishima and the impact from the explosion.’

I furrow my brows in concentration, and a frown forms on my lips, as I recall the events leading up to my blood-stained hands. ‘That one villain, the hurtful slew of words. That’s what set me off.’

I sink further down into the tub and lay still, I take a deep breath in an attempt to calm the rush of adrenaline that I spurred on when I recalled the actions of the villain leading up to my loss of control. After a few minutes of letting myself soak, I continue my thought process, ‘I can’t believe I was triggered into a frenzied rage. How did I let my anger get to that point?’

I stew in the tub for a bit longer and finally unplug the drain and blow out the candles on my way out. Wrapping myself in a towel, and make certain all the candles are out before leaving the bathroom. I settle for a comfortable pair of pajamas an overly sized t-shirt and some pajama shorts. I tabled the issue of my mental instability for later, right now I needed to do my homework as unenthused as I was at the idea of doing said homework. I take a break for a couple of minutes and realize I haven’t eaten any breakfast. ‘I guess that nightmare messed me up more than I would like to admit. I don’t even feel hungry and it’s around the time that I usually eat lunch.’

I hear my phone notification and quickly check to see who texted me. My eyes widen at all the missed text messages and phone calls from Max. ‘I must’ve been pretty knocked out to not hear any of these. Damn.’ I scroll down to the most recent message from Max.

Max: “Hey, in case you want a snack but you’re not all that hungry, I restocked your Takis supply. Love you…”

I leap off my bed and dart into the kitchen, almost slamming into the pantry in my haste. There they are, the large bags of Takis, five of them! ‘And to think, they’re all for meee!’ I almost click my heels together in happiness, my mood switching immediately after seeing the delectable bags of morsels. I reach up on my tippy-toes and I’m not able to feel the bag at all, they’re up too high. I curse silently, ‘Max, why have you forsaken me. You’re six foot nothing. I am barely five feet tall, I cannot reach the same heights as you without assistance.’ I jump up, and my fingertips don’t even brush the packaging. “Dammit!” I exclaim to myself. I huff and stomp over towards a chair, lift it up and bring it over to the pantry. I set it down and get on top of it I snatch a bag and return the chair back to its rightful place and close the pantry door.

I grab a water bottle from the fridge, then rush back to my room and rip open the bag. I grab a taki from inside the bag.

I scroll through my social media for a few minutes munching happily and then set my snack aside. I enter my bathroom and quickly wash my hands before doing my homework to avoid getting any stains on the paper. I finally finish my homework after a couple of hours. 

I hear a knock at the door, and my head shoots up from my current position lying on my bed. ‘I’m not expecting anyone…’ I walk to the door and open it hesitantly, it’s flung open from the pink alien behind it.

“Evangeline!” Ashido exclaims arms open wide for an embrace.

“Hello, Ashido-”

“Why are you in your pajamas? We have the day off today, let’s get you dressed and go out for some coffee.”

I walk into my room, with Ashido following closely behind me. She pushes past me and approaches the closet swinging the doors wide open to fully examine my wardrobe. She’s shuffling through my hangers full of clothes, with enough speed to cause a slight clatter as she moves to the next article of clothing. Once in a while pulling something out and holding it up to my body but putting it back after deeming it unsatisfactory. Finally, she settles on an oversized pale pink hoodie and a pair of light blue denim jeans shoving the items into my chest.

“Here, put these on.” Ashido stares at me expectantly, and I stand there for a moment then ask, “Could you turn around?”

“We’re both girls, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Ashido says while turning around. I change into the outfit she’s chosen for me and tap her on the shoulder signaling for her to turn back around. She turns around and smiles broadly, approving of the outfit that she had chosen herself.

“Okay, well let’s go!” She says, letting me quickly grab my wallet and house key before I put on my socks and my high-tops, then hurrying out the door after her. I send a quick text message to Max, letting him know that I am going out with a friend and might not be home when he gets back from work. Ashido’s excited demeanor distracts me from my worries as we walk to the café.

“I’m getting a caramel macchiato, what’re you getting?” Ashido asks me.

“A hot chocolate with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.” I reply, after looking at the options listed on the sign behind the cashier.

We wait for our drinks in silence and Ashido guides me to a table towards the middle of the café. Sitting down she asks, “So, how are you doing?”

I blow on my drink and look at her quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you seemed out of it on the bus and later on during class. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I guess. Just a bit shaken up from the chaos.”

“I think we all are, which is why I’m glad they gave us the day off.” Ashido says before taking a sip from her sugar-filled coffee.

“I am too, it gave me some much-needed time to regroup.” I take a tentative sip of the hot chocolate not wanting to burn my mouth with a molten hot beverage. It’s too hot still so I blow air across the surface of my drink.

“I think everyone needed it.” Ashido takes another sip and looks off towards the window, and then returns her gaze towards me.

“Why did you show up at my apartment?”

“Oh, that’s easy! I wanted to hang out with you and also check up on you to see how you were doing.”

I nod my head, accepting her statement and then asked my second more important question, “How did you find my apartment?”

“I asked Present Mic where you lived and he told me.”

I feel my eyebrows contract in confusion for a second. But I dismiss my concerns. ‘I know Ashido wants to be a supportive friend. There’s nothing more to it.’

Our conversation continues freely, mostly her talking about various different topics while I listened. I take the final gulp from my hot chocolate, and put the cup down, to see Ashido quickly snapping a picture of me on her phone.

“Hey, what was that for?!” I exclaim.

“You’ve got some whipped cream on your upper lip, see?” She turns her phone around and shows me the picture she just took of me and I laugh at the small mustache of whipped cream above a shadow of hot chocolate above my lip. She gets up and squats next to me and takes a selfie of the two of us, one with a mustache and one without. One regular selfie and a few silly ones. We get up and leave, Ashido walking me home, before she leaves though I ask, “Hey, can you send me those pictures you took of the two of us?”

“Sure, what’s your number?”

I give her my number and then she waves goodbye, leaving me to my own devices for the remainder of the day. I change back into my pajamas, and I laze about. I eat some leftovers from the fridge for dinner after getting a text from Max saying he was going to be working late again. I settle into bed and read a book. After reading a few chapters I turn off my bedside lamp, and let my mind wander. ‘I didn’t realize just how tired I was. It could’ve quickly gotten worse for that villain. What would’ve happened if the explosion from Bakugo’s quirk hadn’t gotten so close to me? Would I have been able to stop myself? Would Kirishima and Bakugo have had to pry me off of the dead villain’s corpse? I must have had some semblance of control. If I didn’t I probably would’ve killed her.’ I sigh as the last thought crosses my mind and close my eyes hoping for either better dreams or no dreams at all.

Chapter Nine: Where To

[elite-guard-hardygal]

Dragon Treasure (Fantasy!Eijiro Kirishima/OC) - My Hero Academia gift fic

FINALLY! A super late Christmas present and birthday present for @the-lupine-sojourner! A Takara Yamada (OC)/Eijiro Kirishima fic! Yes, that’s right, I buckled down and actually wrote something at least somewhat romantic! And because I can more easily do anything I want in the Fantasy!AU, this is set in the Fantasy!AU.

A few heads up. Lupine, I know you have your own Fantasy!AU for KiriKara, buuuuuut, I set this fic in my own version of the Fantasy!AU… Hope you don’t mind >.<

Also, everyone is still fifteen/sixteen, because this is a fantasy world, and I imagine age-restriction on quests and other dangerous stuff isn’t exactly all that strict. By that age, you’re probably expected to start doing something with your life… It’s not that different from real life, really.

Double also, in terms of dialogue and speaking, I view the fantasy!MHA as being kinda like Avatar: The Last Airbender. Meaning the world has this old, traditional look with lots of fantasy elements, but people still talk like people do today, a’la “My first girlfriend turned into the moon.” / “That’s rough, buddy.”

Anyway, enough rambling, let’s get to it!

—

"Aww, that's really cool, Eijiro!"

"Really?" Eijiro looked down at the tiny collection of gems and coins inside his coin purse. "Bakugo thinks it's kind of a dumbass tradition."

Takara scoffed, pulling the drawstring on Eijiro's purse and hiding the little valuables from any potentially greedy villagers. "What does he know? He's not a dragon. And I think it's kinda cute, you having your own personal little treasure trove."

Eijiro laughed bashfully as he tied the coin purse to his belt. "I don't even know why I do it. I mean, yeah, I don't really plan on giving any of those shiny things up, but I don't think I'm gonna go full on beast mode if someone tried to take them either."

"Well, is it, like... a dragon rule to go beast mode when someone tries to take your treasure?"

"Not exactly…?" Eijiro said hesitantly. "I mean, we're pretty territorial, but I think it's all up to you what you're willing to call your 'treasure.' Like, the thing you've sworn, as a dragon, to protect."

He glanced at Takara. "Heh, sorry, still don't know nearly enough about dragon tradition as I should."

Eijiro was one of the very few dragon-people to pretty much reject dragon traditions and instead embark on a life of questing, which meant he was missing out on a lot of his people's coming-of-age teachings. He never seemed that upset about it, just a little embarrassed that his knowledge of his own people's traditions only went so far.

"Oh, it's fine…!" Takara said sympathetically. "I think it's sweet of you to keep that tradition going."

Eijiro grinned. "Well, if there's one thing I know makes a both a man and a dragon, it's protecting somethin', even if it's just a purse full'a shiny things."

Takara returned the grin. Heavens above, did she love this boy.

Takara and Eijiro's questing party had set up camp a few miles away from a rather large, well off village earlier that evening. A few people, like Ochako, had questioned why they didn't simply book a stay at the local inn, but that would have been problematic for a number of reasons.

For one, it was almost guaranteed some of them would have to share a room, and very few of them would have been happy with that. For another, a party of young quest-goers tended to attract unwanted attention - questing was a competitive line of work, and many older quest-goers did enjoy hazing younger ones, especially those coming of age. Finally, it would have just been expensive.

After their party had set up camp, Momo compiled a small group consisting of Takara, Eijiro, Izuku, and Tsuyu, and the five of them went off to the village to get some supplies. They had each split off in their own directions after they arrived, agreeing to rendezvous at the center of the village after nightfall. Takara and Eijiro, of course, remained together.

They spent a significant amount of time just enjoying the liveliness of the village before finally buying some bread. Having barely had enough between the two of them to purchase enough bread for the whole party, Takara had jokingly asked Eijiro if he had a dragon's treasure trove, like in the stories. As it turned out, he kind of did.

Some time had passed by now. The sky was dark, and the two of them were heading towards the village center, when bells started clanging in the distance. Takara and Eijiro both froze and exchanged a look. Even a child knew what those bells meant.

The village was being attacked.

The villagers were scattering about, frantic to reach the safety of their shops or homes. Eijiro and Takara stayed were they were. The former drew his knives, eyes piercing the edges of the crowd for anything that looked like an attacker, while the latter crouched down, eyes closed in concentration as her fingertips brushed the ground beneath her.

"Whadda we got?" Eijiro asked tensely.

Takara's eyes snapped open and she stood up straight. "Raiders, I think. A freakin' army, coming in from the east and fanning out."

Opponents located, the two young quest-goers sprinted against the flow of panicking villagers.

"Where're the others?" Eijiro asked, trying to be careful not to accidentally stab anyone rushing past him.

"I don't know," Takara replied as she rested one hand on her water pouch. "I didn't want to spend too much of my magic on that one earth spell."

"Guess we'll have to hope they'll find us. Or that we beat our guys fast enough to go find them."

Takara wasn't looking at Eijiro as he said that, mind much too focused on searching for the raiders, but she knew he was smiling, trying to set her at ease. It worked, of course. It always worked.

Someone screamed. A man dressed all in black had grabbed some fleeing villager, a girl not much older than Takara or Eijiro. She kicked and flailed, shrieking as the man dragged her backwards, his reflective eyes - indicating he was probably of the beast-people - alight with sick desire. Hot rage filled every muscle in Takara's body, and she yanked the stopper out of her water pouch.

Within seconds, the man was on the ground, those sick eyes rolling back dazedly as Takara called back the water whip to form a mace, which she then pointed at the man's bestial face. The girl, who Takara had pulled back the second she hit the man with that surprise attack, grasped Takara's hand.

"Thank you, thank you!" she cried, only now clearly on the verge of tears.

"It's okay, it's okay, you're welcome," Takara said calmingly, giving the poor girl a smile. "Now go, quickly! Get to safety! We'll handle this!"

The girl nodded and rushed off after her fellow villagers. Takara watched her go, just to be safe.

Suddenly, something yanked on her weapon. "You'll pay for that…"

In that one moment of absence, Takara failed to realize that the attacker had regained his senses.

Takara had not come this far as a quest-goer without having first developed some quick skills, though. She loosened her hold on the water spell, and the mace dissolved in the man's hands, Takara leapt back, calling the water back to her as a floating stream. The man snarled, but Takara gave him no time to even curse, for the second he jumped to his feet, she whipped the water around his body and swung him into a nearby house.

It looked like she and Eijiro had caught up with the raiders.

And it was chaos.

There were still plenty of hapless villagers who had not managed to hide themselves away before the raiders caught up to them. They ran around frantically, screaming, begging their neighbors to let them into whatever home or shop they happened to have barricaded themselves into. It wasn't like the homes or shops were safe either, because it was these places the raiders were mainly looking to break into, stealing supplies, valuables, or even people. Some villagers were brave enough to fight back, only to be struck down by one or two significantly more experienced raiders. Night torches were being toppled over, setting structures ablaze.

Through it all, Eijiro and Takara remained focused.

With her water magic, Takara chose to focus much of her energy on damage control, dousing out the fires that were at risk of becoming catastrophically destructive. If she didn't immediately see a fire that needed dousing, Takara turned her water spells on the raiders. Sometimes the raiders attacked her while she was focused on fighting a fire, but Takara was not so easily taken down.

And besides, Eijiro was always there to watch her back. Even as he focused mainly on fighting off the raiders or rescuing other captured, about-to-be-dead villagers, Eijiro would frequently call out to her with warnings or words of encouragement.

"Takara, watch your side!"

"Wow, nice move!"

"They're coming straight for you!"

"Still lookin' good, babe!"

It was less a way of protecting and more a way to let her know, "Hey! I'm still here!" Takara would be remiss if she didn't respond in kind, keeping one eye on her boyfriend and one eye on her surroundings, shouting words of warning or encouragement right back in between fighting fires or raiders. She did have to give herself some credit for having achieved this level of multitasking.

Soon enough, most to all of the fires were managed. Now all she had to do was fight the raiders. After using a focused stream to take out four raiders who had attempted to jump her all at once, Takara stepped back and bumped into something warm and solid.

"Hey, babe." Eijiro gave her a sideways grin. "Holding up?"

"I'm doing just fine," Takara reported, returning the grin. "Wishing more than ever that I was better at earth magic, but, y'know, whatever." She parried and countered another attack.

"I could go beast and maybe end this a little faster," Eijiro ground out, now struggling against a significantly taller raider. "But…"

Takara lashed a water whip around the ankles of Eijiro's opponent, turned, and pulled their feet out from under them. "Damage control and already frightened villagers would definitely become a problem."

"Right..."

"Hey, don't start angsting on me…!" Takara gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek. "You're doing great!"

Eijiro shook himself, that optimistic demeanor returning. "Aw, you always know what t' say."

"I know." Takara smiled teasingly, and the two of them split to return to the fray.

All that said, Takara was beginning to feel the strain of the fight as it stretched on. Though she and Eijiro had been making quick work of the more cocky and less battle-smart raiders up to that point, that just left the cleverer and more experienced fighters for them to deal with. Not to mention, Takara's magic levels were steadily depleting.

As Takara just barely avoided a sword to the face after being blinded by the light magic of one of the raiders, it dawned on her that she and Eijiro were definitely outnumbered by the this point.

"I think we need back up!" Takara exclaimed.

"Sure, but where is everyone?!" Eijiro shouted, pushing back another raider.

"I don't know, but I can try looking for them…!" Takara called the water back into her pouch and retreated some feet away from the fight. "Cover me a moment!"

Without losing a beat, Eijiro planted himself firmly between the raiders and his girlfriend. At this rate, though, Takara knew she would only have a few seconds. She closed her eyes and dropped to one knee, placing her palm against the ground. The chaos ensuing throughout the entire village rattled through the earth and into her palms, showing itself as only blurred images clashing against each other. She could barely tell one person from the other, but that wasn't acceptable.

Furrowing her brow, Takara clenched the earth beneath her fingertips and concentrated all her magical energy on finding even the slightest bit of meaning in the chaos.

There!

Three people, not retreating from the chaos but going against it! She couldn't afford to look deeper and identify who was who, but they were there, scattered throughout the village and likely about to be just as overwhelmed as Takara and Eijiro.

"I–!" Something slammed into Takara's waist, pulling her off the ground and away from three separate elemental attacks.

"We gotta retreat!" Eijiro shouted. He turned and barely managed to block a massive axe with one of his knives, arm still around Takara's waist.

"Right!" Takara quickly removed herself from her boyfriend's hold - she would have to thank him for the save later - and stepped back.

"I think I found everyone!" she said, called back her water into the form of a sword. "The closest one is only some hundred metres to the north-east!"

"Awesome, let's go!"

The two of them pushed back against their descending opponents, turned, and ran.

Takara lead the way, water sword gripped tightly in her hand in preparation for any unexpected attack. It was true, their closest party member was not all that far away, but that didn't mean she and Eijiro could make a straight beeline for them. The village was full of now more experienced raiders, and with the mental image of nearly everyone's position in the village still fresh in her mind, Takara did not want to waste any energy on literally bumping into another group of raiders.

They burst into the village center, and there Takara froze as she came face to face with a tall man bearing clawed hands and a mammalian bestial face.

"Oh?" The man focused his reflective eyes on Takara, spending chills down the girl's spine. "A village wench who's run the wrong way?" Too late, Takara thought to raise her sword, only for the man to grab it by the blade and raise his other hand in preparation to strike. "How unfortunate."

'Shit, shit, shit, what do I do?!'

Takara watched the hand coming down on her as though in slow motion. In a flash of panic and inspiration, she reeled back, about to slam her heel against the ground. Then, something red and roaring caught the corner of her eye. Eijiro had launched himself at the man, knives drawn and teeth bared in a snarl.

Takara had just enough time for two words to split across her mind - 'Oh, no…' - before her heel met the earth.

The earth swelled in response to the spell that had sent through it, throwing back anyone within Takara's immediate radius. It wasn't that powerful a spell, just a simple earth tremor, but Takara felt the consequences. She collapsed in tandem with the falling dust, magical energy very nearly spent.

"Interesting…"

Takara looked up, and her blood froze. The man was on top of Eijiro, knees pinning down the dragon boy's wrists, one hand embedding its claws in Eijiro's chest while the other released Takara's sword as it dissolved into water. He looked over at Takara.

"Not just a village wench then."

Swords, axes, maces, and spells all found their way aimed in Takara's direction as some of the raiders not currently attempting to break into the village houses sought to keep her down. The man looked down at Eijiro.

"And not just a foolish village hero."

Eijiro grit his teeth, arms tensing as he attempted to move. "Get off–!"

The claws shifted in his chest, and Eijiro cried out in pain. The man simply tilted his head curiously as he observed the patch of red scales his claws were currently gored into. It looked like Eijiro's defense mechanism hadn't been activated quick enough.

"Let him go!" Takara shouted, attempting to get up, only to be pushed back down by one of the surrounding raiders.

The man ignored her, instead speaking to Eijiro as both of them were also surrounded by a few cautious raiders. "You're a long way from home, dragon-child."

"Yeah," Eijiro ground out. "I left to find and take down assholes like you."

"And yet you haven't, despite your naturally immense bestial power. The ideals of a quest-goer are so constricting." The man began to search Eijiro's belt.

"Hey–!" Eijiro once again tried to fight back, only for the claws to be pushed a little deeper, prompting another shout of pain.

"Stop it!" Despite Takara's cry, she could do nothing to enforce it as the raiders surrounding her raised their weapons and/or prepared attacks in warning.

"I find all quest-goers, especially you young ones, to be an inconvenient irritation," the man continued. "But I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed I can't truly say I fought a dragon. Surely you're a disgrace to your people, being beaten like this."

"Shut up…!" Eijiro growled through grit teeth.

"Perhaps– Ah, here we are!" The man pulled Eijiro's coin purse - the coin purse - from his belt, the valuables contained within jingling distinctly. "No dragon would be without something of value!"

"Give it back!"

The man scoffed - "Oh, please." - and stood up. Eijiro immediately attempted to attack, only for several of the surrounding raiders to beat him down.

"Eijiro!" Takara screamed. She lurched forward, only for the flat of a sword blade to smack her in the face.

As she lay on the ground, clutching her face, Takara was vaguely aware of Eijiro shouting her name in between grunts of pain.

"You couldn't protect your lady friend, you couldn't defeat me or my raiding party, and you couldn't keep me from stealing your little valuables…" The man laughed mockingly. "You are a failure as a man, a quest-goer, and a dragon."

Something awakened in Takara, a rage similar to what she had felt when she had saved that village girl earlier.

"You…"

Digging deep into her nearly depleted reserves of magical energy, Takara stretched out her hand. The puddle of water that had been her sword rushed upwards, forming into a knife.

"...shut up!"

Takara pulled her hand back sharply. The water knife immediately obeyed her call, arcing downwards and neatly slicing open the back of the man's hand. The man dropped the coin purse with a shout of surprise and pain, and Takara caught her knife, only for it to instantly dissolve in her palm.

Slamming her now wet hand against the ground, Takara screamed, "He's more than you'll ever be! What the hell do you know?! You're just a thief who can't be bothered to take the hard road!"

"Takara…" Eijiro grunted, straining against the raiders and weapons now keeping him pinned down and appearing largely uninjured despite the beating he had just taken. Patches of red dragons scales covered his body, protecting him from any real damage, but doing little for him as he fought to escape.

The man bared his sharp teeth as he examined the slice on the back of his hand, and he turned on Takara, reflective eyes glowing in the fires still smoldering throughout the village. All of a sudden, Takara was very aware of just how vulnerable she was.

"Little wench. Why the hell is she still here?" the man snapped at those who were surrounding Takara. "Kill her or take her, I don't care."

"No!" Eijiro yelled. "Takara!"

Several pairs of hands grabbed Takara by the arms, pulling her upright. Fear shot through Takara's very bones, and she frantically called on any spell she had at her disposal, only to find herself completely devoid of magical energy. Well, that said nothing of her physical energy.

As the raiders dragged her back, away from the village center and away from Eijiro, Takara kicked and thrashed and screamed. "Let go of me!!"

"Takara!" Eijiro's voice sounded strained and frantic, and Takara could see him struggling in earnest against those who were keeping him down. "You take your hands off her!"

"Ah, it looks like another pretty thing has been stolen from you." The bestial raider, having regained his composure, scooped Eijiro's coin purse off the ground with a snide chuckle.

"Let her go!"

"Eijiro!" Takara cried out, fear becoming overtaken by panic as the distance between her and her boyfriend grew.

"You couldn't even be bothered to defend your little trove with every power at your disposal," the man said mockingly, pressing the sole of his shoe against Eijiro's head. "We might as well help ourselves to everything."

The raiders weren't dragging her away to kill her, Takara knew this, so that only left the one other option, the option that came with all manner of horrifying scenarios. Her whole body felt repulsed just thinking about it, and a sob escaped Takara's throat.

"Eijiro!"

Eijiro snarled, eyes flashing yellow. "I said let! Her! GO!!"

The boy's cry of rage deepened and gutturalized, until it lengthened into a bestial roar. Takara gasped, and even the raiders dragging her away froze and looked back.

They were met with the roaring maw of a large, red scaled dragon.

The raiders instantly went on the offensive, releasing Takara in the process, but the dragon made quick work of them, batting them aside with a flick of its claws.

"Eijiro…!" Takara said breathlessly.

The dragon curled around her protectively, knocking the roofs off a few houses in the process, and roared at the remaining raiders.

"Shit!" The man who had proven himself to be the head of the raiding party scrambled to his feet. "Take him down, quickly!"

All manner of long range attacks were thrown at Eijiro, only for all of them to bounce off his leathery wings as he draped them over Takara. The instant the attacks faded, Eijiro quickly spread his wings, knocking most everyone back with a wind gust. A few raiders were stupid enough to attempt charging Eijiro next. Takara, standing at Eijiro's chest, felt the air around her grow hot.

"No, Eijiro, wait!" she cried, but it was too late.

The charging raiders were met with Eijiro's firey breath, forcing them to retreat frantically. The flames instead relit the already smoldering remains of the houses on the edge of the village square and scorched the fountain in the centre. Takara was about to sigh in relief, only for something to whizz past her ear, and Eijiro to suddenly pull back with a sharp bellow.

"I got him!" one of the raiders shouted triumphantly.

"Eijiro!" Takara shouted in alarm, seeing that an arrow had, by some miracle, found its way into Eijiro's chest.

But that didn't make sense! A dragon's scales were veritably unbreakable, even at a young age, so how…?

'Oh, no.'

The claws embedded in Eijiro's chest earlier. They had left five wounds bored through his scales, still present even in his dragon form.

Eijiro shook himself, growling as his scales flared in an effort to release the unwanted intrusion. An automatic response that only left him that much more vulnerable.

"Now!"

Takara didn't know who shouted that, but the next thing she knew, she was engulfed in darkness and heard Eijiro release a guttural roar as he was hit with every attack at their opponents' disposal. The light returned when Eijiro retreated a little, pulling Takara back with a claw that was much more gentle than one would have expected from a dragon.

"Eijiro, are– Oh my word!" Takara exclaimed as she looked up at her bestial boyfriend.

Several knives and arrows stuck out from beneath Eijiro's scales, which flared and tensed sporadically, scorched and smoking in some places or just straight bleeding in others. Eijiro huffed and shook his head, crouching down defensively, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. Takara turned back and saw an army of raiders approaching. It seemed like every raider still standing had come to this fight now.

"Stay back!" Takara screamed, voice cracking slightly, either due to exhaustion or emotional strain. "Leave him alone!"

Eijiro pulled her a little closer, jaws snapping at the approaching raiders, but neither Takara's words nor Eijiro's aggression dettered the raiders. The man at the head of the group, the leader, wiped a bit of blood from his face, eyes flashing with annoyance and hatred. He didn't even say anything before he launched himself at Eijiro, claws out and teeth gnashing.

Takara could barely process what was happening anymore. She was aware of the constant clang of metal on scales, the flashes and rumbles of many magical attacks, the various shouts of alarm, warning, and, most frighteningly, triumph. She was aware of Eijiro's every shift in movement as he hovered over her, never once exposing her to the ensuing attack even as he attempted to fight back their ruthless opponents. He was slowing down, she knew it, she could practically feel it, and she could definitely hear it as his roars lessened in power, becoming guttural with pain.

"Stop it!" Takara yelled. "Stop!"

Who she was asking to stop, Takara didn't know. But with Eijiro so focused on protecting her, she didn't know how long he would actually be able to hold up…!

Then, a wonderfully familiar voice broke through the chaos.

"Get away from them!"

Metal clashed against metal, sounding almost dissonant in Takara's ears after having heard Eijiro's scales take the brunt of every attack for the past… minute? Five minutes? How long had it been since Eijiro had gone beast-mode? Hell, how long had it been since the raid started?

"Takara…!"

The one spoken to jerked back in alarm, hands instinctively looking to cast a spell despite her depleted magical energy levels.

"Oh, Tsu…!" Relief flooded Takara's every nerve.

She had been hopeful when heard Izuku's voice, but actually seeing one of her friends standing in front of her... Takara pulled Tsuyu into a tight hug, drawing a 'ribbit' of surprise from the frog faced girl.

There was a harsh huff from above, and Takara pulled back from the hug to look up at Eijiro. He definitely looked worse, scales quivering and pupils dilating as he stumbled a litte, still hovering defensively over Takara. He began to shrink. Red scales faded into tan skin, bestial features favoring more human ones, until soon an injured boy stood in place of an injured dragon.

"Eijiro!" Takara darted forward, and she and Tsuyu caught him before he collapsed.

"H-Hey, Takara…" Eijiro lifted his head, a weak but genuine grin on his face. "I just realized…"

He winced as the two girls eased him onto the ground. Takara wrapped a gentle arm around Eijiro's shoulders, careful not to aggravate his wounds or let him fall back onto the knives and arrows still sticking out of him.

"What's wrong?" Takara asked timorously.

"I just realized…" Eijiro looked at her through the one eye that didn't currently have blood dripping over it. "You're literally a treasure."

"...What?"

Eijiro laughed a little, sounding inappropriately dopey for someone who was bleeding everywhere. "It's, like, in your name right? 'Takara.' 'Treasure.' So you're literally 'treasure.' It's crazy how much that fits, considering– Ow!"

"Ah! Eijiro, I'm sorry!" Having momentarily forgotten the situation, Takara had swatted Eijiro on the shoulder, right where a burn marked his flesh. "I'm so, so, so sorry! I–"

Takara waved her hands frantically, unsure of whether to risk touching him again even as he began to fall back due to lack of support. Fortunately, Tsu caught him with a 'ribbit', taking Takara's place in supporting Eijiro. Takara buried her face in her hands.

"You idiot…!" she groaned, voice cracking. "You nearly died! Are you seriously trying to flirt with me right now?!"

Eijiro chuckled, prompting Takara to lift her face even as she felt tears spill their way down her face.

"Sorry. But look, I'm all right…!" He gave a thumbs up, only to tense with a hiss of pain.

"I disagree," Tsu said concernedly, making him lower his arm. "You look way worse than you should for someone who's a dragon."

"Hey, I'm a dragon…!" Eijiro exclaimed in faux defensiveness. "I'm sworn to protect my treasure, right?"

He turned his good eye on Takara with a grin.

"You're flirting again, Kirishima," Tsuyu pointed out.

Takara let out some sound resembling both a laugh and a sob. She rubbed the back of her hand over her face and moved a little closer to her boyfriend.

"It's fine…" she murmured, taking his face gently in her hands a planting a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Oh, woah, Kirishima…!"

Takara looked up to see Izuku running up to them, with Momo not far behind. They both appeared a little worn and tired, but otherwise perfectly fine, especially compared to Eijiro.

"You look terrible!" Momo exclaimed, sheathing her sword as she dropped to her knees in front of them.

"That's a little harsh," Eijiro said with a tired chuckle.

Though wanting very much to continue holding her boyfriend, Takara forced herself to move aside a bit so Momo could get a good look at him.

"Did you two deal with the raiders?" Tsu directed her question at Momo and Izuku as she let Takara retake her place in supporting Eijiro.

"We managed to fight them all off," Momo confirmed as she spread Eijiro's vest a little to get a better look at the injuries to his chest.

(Takara felt an irrational spike of jealousy that she quickly stomped down).

"What, all of them?" Eijiro exclaimed in surprise.

"We probably wouldn't have been able to do it hadn't been for you, Kirishima," Izuku said, voice high with admiration and encouragement as he sheathed his own sword. "Your fight left them all too weak to really fight back against me and Yaoyorozu."

"Ah, I didn't do much, I was just tryin' to protect Takara and kinda gettin' my ass handed to me while I was at it…"

"Shut up, you were doing just fine," Takara muttered, resisting the urge to hug him and instead pressing her head against his.

"And it was worth it," Eijiro concluded, returning Takara's gesture.

"You're lucky to have those dragon powers of yours," Momo said with a bite of admonishment. "These injuries would have likely killed a normal person ten times over…!"

"I don't go down easily."

"You were just talking about how you were getting beaten by those raiders," Tsuyu said.

"Well…! Yeah, but still…!" Eijiro tried to laugh off his embarrassment, but the laugh quickly turned to coughs.

"Kirishima…!" Izuku exclaimed concernedly, stepping forward.

"He will be okay, right?" Takara asked Momo as she tried to keep Eijiro steady.

"We should get him back to camp," their party's second in command asserted with poorly hidden concern. "I just hope we have enough supplies to–"

"Is that the dragon-person?"

The question had everyone except Eijiro, who was trying to catch his breath, looking up. The villagers were emerging from their houses and shops. They approached the young quest-goers, many of their eyes on the injured boy on the ground.

"I didn't think I would ever see one all the way out here."

"He managed to fight all those raiders…!"

The murmurs of the villagers mostly seemed to revolve around Eijiro and their awe at his power as they essentially surrounded the small group.

"Um, hello," Izuku said nervously.

Eijiro finally looked up, eyes a bit cloudy. "Oh, hey, where'd all these people come from…?"

A village girl that Takara recognized as the one she had saved from that one raider at the start of the battle (wow, that seemed like forever ago), emerged from the crowd, eyes bright as she exclaimed, "Thank you so much for protecting our village, quest-goers!"

"Especially that dragon kid!" another villager shouted.

"Who, me?" Eijiro blinked.

"You did manage to fight almost the entire raiding party single-handedly, and if it hadn't been for your conspicuousness, I don't think the rest of us would have been able to regroup with you and Takara," Tsuyu said.

"How could we ever repay you?" one of the older villagers asked.

Everyone's first instinct was to say that it was no problem, that they had only been looking to help, that they didn't need a reward…

"But maybe some medical supplies…?" Takara said hesitantly.

"And some food and other supplies..." Tsuyu added.

"And something to help us carry our friend back to our camp would be nice," Momo finished, playing bashfully with the tips of her gauntlets.

Despite their embarrassment and hesitancy, they received just that and more. Takara soon found herself sitting in the back of a small horse-drawn wagon, surrounded by supplies of various sorts, watching over Eijiro as he slowly began to doze off on her shoulder

"C'mon, stay awake," Takara pleaded. "I don't want you falling asleep until we know you'll be all right."

"I'll be fine, babe," Eijiro murmured, words slurring a little. "But if you really want me to…" He blinked hard and turned a little to look up at her, some concern in his eyes. "Are you all right…? Those raiders didn't…"

"I just have a few cuts and bruises, but it's nothing I can't walk off."

'Unlike you,' she thought, though she didn't say anything more on the subject.

Instead, she squeezed one of his hands and sighed, "I'm sorry about your little treasure trove. I know it meant a lot to you."

There was a small stretch of silence.

"I guess, but I'm honestly more disappointed that leader guy bolted with the rest of his goons. And after all that big talk he was throwin' around…" Eijiro scoffed, then smiled a little. "'Sides, you're worth way more than a purse full'a shiny things."

Takara returned the smile, then hugged him as close as she could without hurting him. "That's sweet. But please don't hurt yourself like that ever again, okay…?"

"Hey, you're my treasure," Eijiro said, still a little cheeky despite his slurring words. "And I'm a dragon."

"My dragon," Takara asserted, voice both lighthearted and genuine. "I'm swearing to protect you too, y'know?"

"That's fair. Okay. Let's protect each other."

He clumsily shifted his arms to bump his fists together, and Takara couldn't help but laugh. She turned to press a kiss against the side of his head.

"...Thank you," she murmured.

There was more in those two words than she could ever hope to express.