Midoriya was dragged all the while by his wrist. The whole walk Bakugou did not loosen his grip and did not pay any mind to each stumbling step Midoriya took to keep up with him. But, as Midoriya struggled to walk, he quietly watched the dynamic of the two people in front of them. Bakugou, the Dragon King, was a much softer person, as Midoriya suspected. Bakugou regarded Kirishima with an admiration that he had not seen in his eyes before.

In return, Kirishima seemed very protective of Bakugou and just as fond. Maybe Kirishima is a servant of some kind to the Dragon King? Or maybe… they were something more? Midoriya's face flamed at the thought.

During the walk Kirishima occasionally glanced back at Midoriya, as if to keep an eye on him, as if he wasn't totally caged by Bakugou's death grip. Bakugou, in comparison, never looked back; absolutely stubborn.

They soon stopped in the shade of some tall trees. The clearing at the center was sunny and bright, glittering sunlight off of the blades of weeds and grass and the white flowers that dotted the small field on the base of the mountain.

Bakugou swung Midoriya around towards the nearest tree; Midoriya stumbled with a gasp, almost falling as Bakugou finally released his wrist.

Midoriya rubbed at his wrist as he turned to look at Bakugou, who had finally decided to look at Midoriya. Well, not look into his eyes, but at the small wound on his belly that had bled through his vest.

"Sit down, Deku," Bakugou commanded, moving forward, hands lifting just slightly as if to touch Midoriya, but stopping close to Bakugou's sides. Instead his crossed his arms and turned his glare at Midoriya. "I need to check that wound."

"I'm fine! It's just a little scratch!" Midoriya cried, throwing out his hands. They really did not need to go to the trouble for him. It only stung a little anyway.

Bakugou's glare did not falter. "Sit."

Midoriya sighed and backed up to the tree and shuffled down into a sitting position in the tall grass. Slowly he unbuttoned his vest, glancing at the small tear in the vest as he cast it aside. The white shirt below was even more bloodied and still wet with blood. Midoriya sucked in a breath, unbuttoning this shirt as well, and then hissed as he quickly peeled the shirt out of his wound.

Bakugou's feet rustled the grass as he squatted down beside Midoriya to lean over the injury. His eyes roamed over the cut and then glanced up at Midoriya's eyes. Midoriya felt frozen under his gaze.

"It's not too deep," Bakugou said, glancing over to Kirishima.

They exchanged a look and Kirishima's frown seemed to win their silent argument. Bakugou grit his teeth and pulled away from Midoriya, standing and turning away. "You'll just need a bit of medicine and the wound needs to be cleaned."

Kirishima nodded, coming closer. "I'll stay here with Midoriya. We'll wash out the wound and his clothes at the stream while we wait for you to bring the medicine."

Bakugou glared at the two of them, eyes flashing threateningly, but clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Fine. I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

With a grin, Kirishima gave Bakugou a thumb's up. "Midoriya and I will be fine." He crouched down next to said person and slung an arm over Midoriya's shoulders, causing him to jump in surprise. "See we are practically best friends already!"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Like I said, nothing stupid, got it?" He turned on his heel and stalked off.

Kirishima turned to Midoriya, pulling his arm from his shoulders. "Come on, we really should wash out that wound. It looks like it hasn't stopped bleeding."

"It doesn't really hurt," Midoriya said slowly.

"So you keep saying," he replied, looking unimpressed. "Look, there is nothing wrong with getting a little help. Besides, we really should clean out that wound before it gets infected."

Midoriya nodded, "Okay, I mean it's fine, but okay." He pulled the white shirt off all of the way and held his vest and shirt in a lump and followed Kirishima out of the clearing.

They walked a short while in silence, but as the sound of the babbling brook neared, Midoriya became more interested in the person before him. Kirishima was not dressed unlike Bakugou. Where Bakugou wore a cape, Kirishima wore a scarf around his neck. He had tattoos similar to the one's down Bakugou's arms, but they were less complex and took up less surface area. Otherwise he too was shirtless and wore simple pants. He wore no shoes on his feet, like Bakugou.

"Is it just you and Bakugou out here?" Midoriya asked, unable to help himself.

Kirishima contemplated his question for a moment. "Us and the dragons," he said simply, looking away and not easing up on his pace.

They continue a little while more before they came to the stream. It was not as wide here as it was by the mermaid pool, but it was deep enough to wade through at least at waist level. Stopping at the water's edge, Midoriya dropped his wadded-up clothes and then crouched to shove off his boots and the socks underneath. When his task was complete, he stepped into the cool water and then sat down at the water's edge.

He swished his hot hands through the soothing water before scooping some up to wash the blood on his stomach. He repeated the action until the wound was completely clear of matted blood. The bleeding had definitely slowed, so Midoriya did not bother to press much further into the cut. He just occasionally wiped away the excess blood. In the meantime, he took his soiled clothing and swished them into the water, watching in fascination as the blood dissolved into the water in a diluted red.

"Why do humans wear these?" a question came from over his shoulder.

Midoriya turned to fine Kirishima holding one of his boots and turning it in all directions to inspect it. Midoriya frowned at Kirishima's words. Was Kirishima implying that he was not human?

"They're shoes," Midoriya said slowly. He picked up his other shoe and held it up for Kirishima to see. "You see the bottom?" He knocked on the sole. "It has a protective hard layer that protects feet from stepping on anything too jagged or hurtful. You and Bakugou don't wear these?"

"Didn't even know what they were," Kirishima said, dropping his boot. "No one in our village wears anything like it."

He stood and walked away, not realizing how much he had revealed to Midoriya. Midoriya stared after Kirishima as he loitered at the water's edge. So, based on what was said so far, Bakugou and Kirishima had a village of possibly other people and/or dragons.

Midoriya glanced away and continued to wring out his shirts, the blood mostly successfully removed. The clothes only held a faint coloring of the blood and the rip from the sword he had been cut by.

"Okay," Midoriya said as he stood, water dripping down his front and from his feet. "Should we go back to meet Bakugou?"

"Hold on, I need to interrogate you," Kirishima said, watching as Midoriya crouched to put his boots back on.

Midoriya popped the first boot on but did not move to fasten it or secure the second boot. "What do you want to know?" he asked slowly.

"Bakugou's my best friend," Kirishima said, crouching down in front of Midoriya. "He saved my life once and I am doing everything I can to keep him safe in return. I can never repay that debt… What exactly are you here for? Are you here to kill dragons?"

"No!" Midoriya cried. "I would never!"

"What do you need the scale for?"

"My mother," Midoriya whispered. His heart stuttered at the thought of his poor mother, lying with the dark welts across her body, too weak to move or to even speak. "She's going to die without it. She has the Blight."

Kirishima's face scrunched up at the mention of the disease. "It's uncurable."

"But with a dragon's scale—"

"There is only one type of dragon that has the scales for that kind of thing and they're rare. And even if we were to give you a scale… Taking that scale alone would hurt the dragon terribly. You wouldn't imagine the pain a dragon goes through when a scale is ripped from his body." Kirishima shuddered physically at the thought. "We will never give you a scale. Even if Bakugou goes soft on you, I will never allow it."

Midoriya felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs once again. Then, was it really hopeless? Was his mother really going to die?

"Now, tell me, are you still going to hang around Bakugou after knowing this?"

Midoriya did not want to deceive Kirishima. To be honest, he felt heartbroken at the news and the disappointment was heavy on him, but he knew there was no way he could give up on his mother. He didn't want to hurt the dragons… but if he didn't try, he might lose his mother forever, and then he would be all alone. He couldn't do it.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear," Midoriya said, looking down at his hands, running them together nervously. "I still do want to save my mother and I will do anything I can to do that for her. But if you say that is impossible, then it probably is. But I won't rest until I try everything else. Maybe there is something in this forest that could heal the Blight without using a dragon's scale. Who knows? Besides… there are some things I still want to learn about in the forest, ya know?"

Kirishima stared at him but said nothing. Instead he sighed and turned away. "Come on, let's go meet with Bakugou."

They headed back to clearing and Bakugou was still not there. The stood around in awkward silence.

Midoriya hung his wet shirts over a low branch but otherwise leaned against the tree, glancing over Kirishima nervously.

Kirishima glanced over just as often, looking like he wanted to say something… but the silence continued. Eventually Kirishima did speak his mind. "Look, Midoriya. You seem like a nice guy. I know you won't hurt the dragon or Bakugou, but I have to warn you… if you do anything to hurt anyone I love, I will end you."

"I get it, I do. I promise I won't do anything to hurt him or anyone. I promise!"

"Good!" Kirishima said, finally grinning, showing his sharp teeth again. "Then, to prove yourself, you will pick some white flowers for Bakugou!"

Midoriya paused, confused. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"No, just do it," Kirishima told him. "I promise Bakugou will love it."

"Okay…" Midoriya said slowly. He walked lightly out into the field, pressing a hand to his chin as he observed the little white flowers, looking for the most vibrant ones. Briefly he turned back to Kirishima, unsure of himself, but Kirishima gave him thumbs up, encouraging him to do as he said.

Midoriya went to work, picking a few flowers and arranging them in a little bouquet. It was tiny bundle but it looked cute enough as it was. The flowers were small petite things, a bit like daisies, but smaller in size and with wider petals. They were flowers that did not exist in where Midoriya was from. He wondered what they were called.

"Are these enough?" Midoriya asked, turning to Kirishima and displaying his small collection.

"Yes, a small amount is actually perfect!" Kirishima said enthusiastically. "Now put them aside for now. Wait till he's here and then pull them out at the perfect time."

Midoriya huffed in frustration. "I don't even know what these are for."

"Trust me!" Kirishima said.

Midoriya stowed them away at the base of the tree holding his drying clothes. He sat down next to them, relaxing and waiting. Kirishima wandered off to the other side of the clearing as they waited.

Not much longer, they both perked up as they heard someone coming through the undergrowth, moving into the clearing. It was Bakugou, as expected, and in his hands was a bundle wrapped in leaves. Bakugou spotted Midoriya beneath the tree and beelined towards him and crouched down at his side and peering at the wound once again. "Hmm," Bakugou hummed. "This should be healed up in no time." He peeled back the leaves of his bundle and revealed a poultice of some kind. He dipped his fingers into the creamy liquid and smeared the salve across Midoriya's wound. Midoriya sucked in a breath at the coolness of the medicine.

Bakugou's sharp eyes caught his but he said nothing and turned back to his work, making sure the wound was well coated.

Kirishima approached quietly, watching Bakugou's slow work. "So he'll live?"

"Yeah he'll live," Bakugou grunted, wrapping up the salve again when his work was complete and wiping his hands off on his pants.

"Hey, Midoriya wants to show his appreciation," Kirishima said, practically buzzing on his heals as he rocked on them in anticipation.

"Huh?" Bakugou turned to Midoriya, frowning.

Midoriya grabbed the white bundle of flowers and thrust them out towards Bakugou in both hands.

Bakugou froze with wide eyes, looking utterly horrified. "Deku. What the fuck are those?"

Midoriya's body seized up under the murderous glare that grew on Bakugou's face. "Uh, but! But Kirishima said you would like these!"

Kirishima broke into laughter, guffawing uncontrollably.

"Did he now?" Bakugou ground through his teeth, absolutely terrifying in his anger.

"Oh are these bad?!" Midoriya fretted, dropping the flowers in fright.

"They're fucking flowers for courting. So unless you intend to marry me, I would stay the fuck away from white flowers, okay Deku?"

"Got it!" Midoriya squeaked, kicking the flowers away. His entire face heated with uncontrollable embarrassment.

Kirishima continue to chortle. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Bakugou said, standing and turning away from Midoriya. He looked back Midoriya for a moment and gestured for him to follow. "Grab your shit. We are going to find you somewhere to sleep."

"Okay Bakugou!" Midoriya said, voice still squeaking. He grabbed his shirt and the small bundle of salve Bakugou had left behind and rushed to follow after Bakugou.

All the while, Midoriya was being mocked by Kirishima's continual laughter.


Kirishima is so mean to Midoriya. :)