The chirp of birds in the distance, the blue sky tainted with white clouds and branches that shadowed the corner's of the vision.
Branches... trees... death!
"AH!"
Uraraka awoke from the horrific nightmare, gasping for the air that had left her lungs. The marathon in her mind seemed as a dream covered in fog and with reminiscence of sharp fangs and red eyes.
But it was all a dream was it not?
She would awake to the smell of her mother cooking and the sound of her father hammering the wood that was meant for construction, yet she had found that non of those things surrounded her being. It was the light of the sun that made her realize that the place she lay on was not of a home but of rock.
The witch sat up straight as quickly as her gasp, her gaze wondering to her surroundings and landing on the bright red cape that rested over her body. She pushed away the piece of fabric, as if the carcass she had seen before had come alive.
Suddenly, everything came into view: The rock walls, the markings of red on them, the fur on the ground as a carpet or bed, the many sticks gathered in the middle for a camp fire, the piles of fruit inside a man made basket and... a beautiful golden necklace that lay atop another pile of rocks. Uraraka couldn't find the words of doubt that should have come out of her mouth, but the curiosity that always flooded her being suddenly made her approach the golden necklace.
It was a small thing, like the size of a penny, with an apple in the middle. Her fingertips graced the collar seeing how well preserved the fine metal was.
It was impressive to say the least.
"What are you doing?"
Uraraka watched as a strong hand grabbed hers and pulled it away from the medal. She knew... she just knew... It was him.
"Beast!" The girl screamed, unleashing herself from the tight grasp and backing away quickly. The sunlight made the man's figure dark so she could only see his outline. She still kept some type of composure.
"I've heard that name many times, scoundrel..." Bakugou approached the nervous girl. "Is this the gratitude I get for saving you?"
Uraraka stared with confusion at the man. "Saving me?"
Bakugou threw a large bag of something on the side. "Yes you little... thing. I saved you from getting killed by the tree..."
The witch stared at the ground, still trying to grasp on to reality. "The tree... The tree of a thousand hands?"
The beast opened the bag in front of him, revealing a few skinned fish for breakfast. "Yes. Why do you know of the tree?"
"All Mig- I mean the townspeople spoke of it in whispers... It was rumored that menacing creatures were in the woods, haunting those who ever saw them," She went on, forgetting of the person who stood in front of her. "Of the tree of a thousand hands and the beast with the sharpest fangs and blonde spiky hair-"
Bakugou raised his eyebrow. "Of me? They spoke of me?"
Uraraka's pink cheeks brightened with humiliation. "Without the prudence of a vulgar I will say that yes... they spoke of you and in no good way..."
"I imagined. Those fools only gossip and care of themselves over any other!"
The witch stood, angry. "That's not true! Those people are kind and loving! How can a foreign figure who lives in the woods, hiding behind a tittle, know of their true intentions with no interaction whatsoever?"
The beast spilled the contents from the bag in an angry fit. "What do you know little miss witch?! Have you been hunted down by the same creatures you once thought of your own kind?!"
Uraraka was taken a back by his words, turning away from the man and marching towards the outside of the cave. The beast followed her with his gaze. "And where do you think you are going?"
The witch growled. "To my home and away from a creature like you!"
Bakugou watched as the girl made her way out, resenting her for not even a drop of gratitude. After that, he promised himself to never do the same favor again.
Uraraka wondered outside the cave, looking around and finding many trees but no road. No path to return where she came from. She was definitely in the middle of no where.
She tried many times to float but could only find that she was too weak to even float a few inches above the ground. She wasn't the type to typically give up but this time it was the only choice, if she didn't want to be eaten alive by trees again.
The witch made her way back towards the entrance of the cave and looked at the beast cooking fish over the fire.
He seemed... lonely.
"I give up... I cannot find a path or a single piece of track to find my way back."
Bakugou scoffed and turned to look at the frustrated girl. "That means it was a good idea to have gotten all these fish from the river."
After a filling breakfast, Uraraka set out to search for a path back home, to find not even a single rock to point the way.
"How can I be so lost? I am a witch and witches cant get lost!" Uraraka scorned herself, dreading the poor decision she had made the night before
"That's the first time I've heard such a thing... It proves how much of a fool you really are." Bakugou smirked, watching the girl flinch and feeling satisfaction for causing it.
"How dare you? It is the most embarrassing of things for a witch to lose her line of balance, specially getting lost."
Bakugou fixed the cape on his back and followed the girl along the woods. "Well if you say so round-face."
Uraraka stopped in her tracks. "Scoundrel, little thing and now round-face?! You are the most insulting man I have ever met!"
"Well if that's so I'll never comply to saving your little rat's ass!" The man approached the young witch and looked down at her face. She was unusually smaller than the women he had once seen in his life.
"Rat's ass?! See? You are proving my point!"
Bakugou scoffed and looked at the darkening sky. "Whatever, let's return to the cave. Darkness can engulf you quickly around here."
Uraraka's eyes turned to concern. "But... I need to return home."
"You can sleep in my cave if you want, I can let you rest in the b-biggest corner if you want to..." the man turned away his gaze, feeling flustered.
"Bakugou was the name, If I recall?" the witch waited for his nod and proceeded. "You are rather kinder than before... is it comprehension?"
"S-shut it round-face! Don't get too cocky or else you will lose my generous offering!"
Uraraka laughed. "Fine, sir Bakugou of the forest, I shall follow your command!"
They both slightly laughed at her sarcasm and foolish joke, returning to the cave.
Like that, minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days, and the young witch couldn't find her way back home.
It was starting to seem like the fate she once believed was turning foggy, clouding her mind with a kind of negativity. Yet, this new companion made everything seem... balanced.
She had lost count of the days since the event of her almost imminent death. Meanwhile, she slept beside the campfire lit every night by Bakugou and lay opposite side in the cave. Comfort was already something crossed on her list, she had found that the cape which she was frightened of once made for a magnificent bed. It was thicker than the rest of the fabrics she had ever touched so it made for a type of comfy mattress.
On this day, Bakugou had set out the campfire like every other night and placed the skinned fish on top of the fire, letting them cook for dinner. At first, the young witch had found the stench unbearable but with time she had gotten used to it.
He had walked out to the woods while Uraraka watched over the food, making sure it didn't burn. Apart from common duties, similar to those she had done back home, she found that the aventure of a new place fed the curiosity she once bore.
Her eyes always wondered over that golden medallion she encountered on the first day of her stay. It was the shiniest thing she had ever seen and her fingers couldn't stop wondering over it. On top of all, she wondered why was such a thing in the grasp of the so called beast.
Before sunset, bakugou made his way back to the cave, greeting uraraka with a bunch of sticks placed in front of her.
"There, now the fire can be bigger for the cold night." The man snickered at the wondering girl, who fixed her dirty white dress and short messy, brown hair.
"At last! But before that, sit down, the fish has been cooked."
The beast did as told and sat beside the maiden, grabbing the fish and devouring it. Uraraka did the same taking her time to eat the fish.
The night unfolded outside of the cave and stars poked through the trees. It made the environment a little more light.
"I've never seen a sky like this." The with looked upon her companion, "It's as if the stars were smiling at you Bakugou!"
Bakugou gagged on his food, finding the girl's words as foolish. Only a big laugh could emerge from the depths of his soul.
The witch stared confused. "What?
The beast scoffed. "You say those words as if I was the resemblance of a mystic creature!"
His laugh echoed in the cave, somehow a pleasant melody from a menancing beast. Uraraka found it to be... relaxing to hear the man laugh. It made her heart suddenly skip a beat. She followed his laugh with her own.
The night seemed lighter and the cold, warmer. The campfire followed the same, dimming slightly. When the laughter died down, the witch encouraged herself to speak in between the silence.
"So... May I ask a private question?"
The beast looked at the girl with curiosity. "You may..."
"Why do you live here in such a place of loneliness?"
Bakugou looked down at his feet, taking off his boots and sighing. "Why do you wish to know, round-face?"
Uraraka smiled slightly. "Just curiosity."
"Ugh... fine I'll tell you." It's the least he could do.
The witch scooted closer to the beast, staring up at his handsome face and remarkable eyes. It was a surprising attraction for the witch, but overall the story was what attracted her the most.
"Well... let me start with the fact that my first years of life up until my twelve years I lived in an orphanage from a far town..." Bakugou swallowed the tightness in his throat, trying to hide it with his head up high. "The nuns and faerie in charge took care of me as if I was one of their own. I was loved by all... until..."
The witch stared surprisingly at the beast's watering eyes. "I-if the matter is of suffering you don't have any obligation to tell me..."
Bakugou gazed upon Uraraka's gaze and realized his own watering. As fast as he could he cleaned them away. "I k-know but... I want to tell you..."
At that, the witch scooted closer, trying to break the slight barrier between them.
"Well... as I was saying. Everything was ok until... I jokingly bit one of the other orphans and... Passed out, awaking to the sounds of screams and blood on my hands..."
Uraraka stared at Bakugou with shock. He looked like such a confused child at that moment that the witch only wanted to ease the memories of his pain. "And what happened after...?"
"I... I was kicked out of the orphanage by those I thought of as my piers... as the people who showed me a thing called "love". Yet... they didn't share the same thought..."
The witch's eyes watered as she thought of the beast in his youth, suffering out in the world.
"I'm sorry to hear such a thing..." she gazed upon a scar in the beast's exposed chest and a black marking, shaped like a dragon, in his left arm. "And what about those?"
Inmediately, Bakugou grazed the scar with his hand. "The marking was done by me after I found out I had fire power. While the scar... well I've had it since the day I was born, though I do not know where it came from and it has haunted the doubts off all those with prudence..."
"I see..."
Then as a thought invaded her mind, Uraraka's eyes lit up like a bulb. "May it be of discomfort if I can try to erase the scar with a spell? I learned it from the books of magical medicine in my mother's cabinet!"
The beast thought about it, unsure if to let the witch touch something that was part of him when she knew enough. But in his soul he knew he needed to get rid of it.
With a grunt Bakugou complied. "Fine! Go ahead..."
Slowly, Uraraka placed her hand at the center of his chest, feeling the strength and warmth of his muscles. It was slightly arousing to be this close to a man so attractive, specially when the maiden was a mere virgin to such contact. Sure, she had hugged the likes of Deku and Iida, but never as such as that moment.
The witch closed her eyes, letting her mind focus on remembering the words she once taught herself to do after a small scaring by the thorn of a rose in her finger. Even if her scar had been small, it was never wrong to try on something bigger.
And like that, her hand developed a blue aura around itself transforming in and out of its colorful state.
Bakugou watched as the blue reflected on the walls in the cave and highlighted the poor drawings made on it. No pain had hit his chest yet despite the strong aura around the witch's hand.
Again, slowly, the light around the scar dimmed until the environment was lit by the campfire. Uraraka lifted her hand off the beast's chest, revealing an almost clean line of scar tissue still in it's place.
With her eyes closed, the witch spoke. "It isn't much but I hope I erased the grand part of the scar."
Bakugou looked down at his chest, his eyes widening in shock as he looked for the scar that was barely a white spot. "You have... you have erased a part of my burden..."
He lifted his gaze as to watch the girl open hers. As she did, her brown eyes were lit in a golden rim surprising even the most scary man.
"Woah..."
Uraraka stared at him and smiled. "Is it my eyes? If so, it is part of dealing with medicinal spells. It looks wonderful does it not?"
Suddenly, Bakugou broke the invisible barrier that had been between them through all those days and grasped Uraraka's round cheeks in his palms. His intentions of filling his curiosity of the golden rims was mistaken for something of passion by the young maiden.
"B-Bakugou?!" She tried to back away from his grasp, as her eyes slowly returned to normal and her cheeks turned red.
"Stay still, round-face! I want to see!"
She gave up on loosening the grasp and let herself melt into the beast's eyes. They were as wonderful as hers. But such a vicious color for a such a gentle soul. It was the very definition of misunderstood.
Uraraka found that in the days she spent her time with him, were the days that she grew fonder of him. But the fondness wasn't as friendly as for All might , Iida or even Denki, it was of more and she didn't know how to define it... no, she was scared to. She had felt similar for Deku once in the first days of meeting, but nothing as strong as the moment she was in now.
"Bakugou..."
Somehow, they felt the desire deep inside their chest, and both knew it. Their eyes lowered slightly in recognition, as their faces started to get closer and closer.
But the crack of a stick tore the moment into pieces.
Both separated as quickly as possible, searching for the source. The pair tip toed out of the cave, only to find a small rodentrunning away from a broken branch.
"Damn thing ruining the moment!" Bakugou grunted, making Uraraka laugh by his side. He stared at the girl and appreciated her laugh. Hell, he appreciated every bit of that being.
After her laughter died down, the witch spoke. "Shall we go inside?"
"Wait here for just a moment, I've got something for you!"
Uraraka slightly smiled.
Before she knew it, Bakugou had returned with something wrapped around his hand. Something familiar to the witch. "Close your eyes.."
The witch gladly complied with his command. She felt the beast's heat as he approached her back, soon after a string of cold touched her neck, like metal on skin. She definitely knew what he had brought her. "Is it the medallion?"
"Yes, the one you have wondered about since the day you arrived..."
She grabbed the medallion and stared at the golden apple in the middle, admiring the beautiful rim of worn out words on the edge. "Where did you get such a beautiful thing?"
"Supposedly, it was my mother's," Bakugou watched as Uraraka tried to undo the necklace to return it, but he stopped it before she could finish. "Now don't mind the emotional matter, It is a... T-thank you for erasing the majority of my burden..."
"B-but... fine I accept your thanks. Still, you didn't have to gift me such a beautiful necklace..." Uraraka lowered her gaze. "Well in the same matters of gratitude, I believe I owe you a thank you and an a-apology... for being ungrateful of my salvation from that deadly tree."
Bakugou snickered. "Finally the little witch realizes her mistake!"
Uraraka followed his expression. "Don't mention it for it may be the last apology if you continue snickering!"
They both laughed at their foolish expressions.
The night turned darker and darker.
"Let's return, darkness is far too dangerous for a little witch like yourself!" Bakugou joked, and Uraraka smirked.
"Darkness is far too dull for a man like yourself!"
The man's ego inflated after being called as such. "Man... I like that name... Now come on, lets go back."
The witch smiled and followed behind him.
At dawn, Bakugou awoke to the sound of steps getting close to the cave. In a whim, his hands were engulfed in flames, ready to attack any adventurer who dared to enter his home. On the opposite side of the, now unlit, campfire slept Uraraka, not bothered by any of the sounds.
"Who goes there?" The beast questioned, watching for any trace of the enemy.
From behind a tree emerged a figure with hair red as flame and sharper than rock. The scales that traveled up his arms, the wings and the most obvious tail made Bakugou realize who it was. "Damm it Kirishima! I thought you were the enemy!"
"No, I am not! How can you forget me? Your loyal subject!"
Bakugou stopped the flames from his hands and looked at his friend with suspicion. "It is rare for you to come by at such an hour... What has brought you here?"
Kirishima grinned. "Well~ I found us a mission from one of my fellow dragons. He wants us to hunt down the-" His gaze wondered behind Bakugou, finding his new companion. "Wait, who is that?"
A sudden blush crept on Bakugou's cheeks, trying to make up an explanation but spilling out the truth. "S-she was an innocent witch girl I found in the woods! I... had to save her from Tomura…"
"It's a girl."
The beast stared at the dragon confused. "Yes it is."
Kirishima's face started to change to one of curiosity. "It's a girl...?"
"Yes she is Kirishima! Have you not seen a female in your life?!"
Then, the curious expression turned to one of shock. "It's the girl!"
Bakugou stared at his friend confused, watching as he approached the sleeping body. "What do you mean by "the girl"?
Kirishima ignored his friend and looked at the witch's face. "Same eyes, same cheeks, same hair? It is her!"
The beast grew impatient, grabbing his friend by his shoulder. "Dammit Kirishima! What do you mean?!"
"She is the missing witch that those townspeople are looking for!"
Bakugou let go of his friend. "What...? They are looking for her? To bring her back?"
"Yes! Why else would they?! They want the grand Witch's daughter back!" Kirishima looked at the beast, seeing as confusion and... sadness clouded his friend's gaze. "Bakugou?"
The beast sat besides the sleeping body of the beautiful girl, staring at her restful face and wondering.
"You will return her will you not?" Kirishima approached the pair. "Apart from helping her, it could help you regain the trust of the people. Maybe they will accept you back into their arms-!"
"No Kirishima!" The beast grunted. "I don't want any of that... I've found my acceptance..."
Kirishima stared back and forth between the beast and the witch, when realization kicked in. "Oh! Then, what will you do?"
"Let me have her by my side... even if it's for a few more moments, even if its for a few more breaths of night air..."
And sunrise peeked thru the trees, it's rays reflecting upon the cave's walls... and upon the tear drop that fell on the cheek of the sleeping witch.