Chapter 5

Bakugo was afraid of virtually nothing. Villains, explosions, condescension... He could battle it all.

Failure however, remained one of the most devastating and chilling aspects of fear for Bakugo. He hated to fail almost as much as he was afraid to fail, and that had been a tough lesson to learn and accept back in his UA days.

But he knew, trailing behind Eijirou's back, that failure would be coming for him again one day. And likely soon.

The dragon, at first glance, seemed impenetrable just like Kirishima. But upon closer inspection, he could see faint lines of scarring between the scales.

They trailed along his back, down his sides, and even peeked around his chest. If there were any similarities between the past and present, Bakugo found himself praying that they started and ended with their faces. Because in this world, something had happened to Eijirou, something strong enough to leave scars on that powerful body.

Bakugo couldn't imagine any force on earth powerful enough to shatter Kirishima. His smile. His energy, his goodness.

It made him quietly furious at the other version of himself. Where had he been? Why hadn't he been there to protect Eijirou? How dare he fail when he supposedly was soul-contracted or whatever else hair braiding slumber party bullshit magic they did.

He wanted to ask Eijirou exactly that, wanted to demand it actually, but wasn't really sure if he should. He didn't know this Eijirou. No matter how similar he was to his Kirishima they'd had fundamentally different lives, and that made him different. Unknown. Not quite a stranger, but enough he didn't quite feel comfortable just asking to what the fuck his counterpart had been doing when he should've been watching Shitty Hair's back.

He scowled fiercely as Eijirou cast him a sidelong glance and smiled in amusement, "You can ask you know." He offered, "I don't mind."

"The fuck would I care what my shitty counterpart does or doesn't do?" He demanded, willing the heat rising in his cheeks to go back down where it belonged for being caught staring.

Eijirou laughed lightly at that and Bakugo's heart stuttered. It sounded exactly like Kirishima's laugh when he was happy. A sound heard often, but never enough in Bakugo's opinion.

"It happened just before we met." Eijirou said calmly after a few moments, somehow able to piece together his heated words with the unspoken question, "It was actually how we met. I'd just gone through my rite of adulthood and was out exploring the world when I ran afoul of some dragonslayers."

He grimaced a bit, his eyes going distant as the memory replayed before his eyes, and despite the slight twinge of guilt Bakugo felt for inadvertently dredging up something painful he found himself hanging onto every word.

"Dragons live in nests you know." Eijirou said quietly, "Dragons, queens, hatchlings, all following their lead Drake. We watch each other's backs. But young dragons are expected to go out and see the world before we find a mate and settle permanently. It's usually a time for grand adventures and seeing the world through other's eyes."

"But the thing that makes nests so strong is the same thing that left me vulnerable that day." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I was naïve and didn't realize the trap was there until it was sprung."

He glanced down at the scales on his arm, "They captured me and forced me into my dragon form. Normally that would be my most powerful form, but they used magic to keep me weak and unable to fight." A delicate shiver ran down his spine, "They needed it to harvest my scales."

He looked over at Bakugo, "It was while they were doing that I met Katsuki. He'd heard about the slayers poaching magical creatures for their parts in his territory and came to put an end to them. By then I was half mad with pain and blood loss. If he hadn't shown up, hadn't healed me after, I would've died."

Bakugo stared up at Eijirou speechless. Whatever he'd been expecting... that was not it.

He swallowed a bit, unable to reconcile the image of his other self he'd been building in his head with the one the dragon had just painted. It hadn't been a case of negligence or cruelty like he'd half feared. What did that say about him that he'd automatically assumed it was?

The thought was uncomfortable and sharp and he shoved it away as firmly as he could.

"Explains why you follow the fucker." He muttered at last.

Eijirou's eyes followed Bakugo as he walked ahead, pushing a branch out of the way. The dragon's face seemed to twitch, as if he wanted to growl.

The intensity of the dragon's eyes only seemed to grow stronger as Bakugo shoved his way into a melted looking clearing, a scowl flashing on his face as Eijirou shot a sour look right back at him.

"If you've got something to say, then just say it," Bakugo snapped at him, frustrated by the displeasure in Eijirou's eyes.

"Katsuki isn't a fucker," Eijirou shot back, getting straight to the point. Bakugo met his angry eyes with a flat stare of his own, turning to square off against the burly dragon.

"And neither are you," Eijirou insisted, looking for a moment, actually upset. And Bakugo was surprised by that, as reminiscing about his terrible past at the hands of poachers hadn't even twisted his face in such a way. He looked more upset about Bakugo thinking poorly of himself. Admittedly, Bakugo had a high opinion of himself and his talents, but that didn't erase years of his own failures that clawed at his own self assurances.

"You don't know me," Bakugo pointed out to him, "and even if you think you do because of that weird soul connection you've got, that doesn't change the truth."

"And what's that?" Eijirou hissed back at him.

"That you got attached to some asshole who rescued you, and probably didn't deserve what you offered to him," Bakugo replied, hating how shockingly true that had felt. Even Eijirou's eyes widened at that, his jaw dropped open in shock over the naked honesty hiding behind his words.

A thick, penetrating silence fell between them and Bakugo forced his gaze away and back into the woods. He frowned a little as he saw something metal glinting in the woods so he almost didn't catch Eijirou mutter, 'not this crap again.'

His lips pulled into a scowl, head tilting to get a better look at the metal object, not even paying attention to the dragon trying to get his attention. That looked a little like-

"Baku-" Eijirou was cut off, Bakugo's hands slamming hard on the dragon's shoulders and shoving him back.

An arrow whizzed through the air, shooting fast and burying itself in the ground close to where they had both been standing.

"It's a trap," Eijirou snarled, his claws flexing into fists and his eyes burning with anger. Bakugo blinked at the way his stance spread, steady and centered.

That was Kirishima's default stance. He knew it as intimately as he knew his own. It was disconcerting to see it here in a place he was still not entirely convinced wasn't a really fucked up quirk induced fever dream.

However, when another arrow whizzed through the air, instinct took over and he spun to blast it out of the air.

"So they wanna ambush us huh?" He growled darkly, a slightly manic grin curling his lips, "Big mistake you fucking cowards."

His hands crackled and popped lightly as he spotted movement and his excitement soared. No matter how much the rest of his life liked to remind him of how much of a bastard he was, this was something that was all his. The wild thrill of the fight. The pure adrenaline of giving it his all and coming out on top.

He loved it. Unreservedly. And he relished it every chance he got.

This time was no different as he sprang into action, instinctively trusting Eijirou to cover his back. Arrows quickly gave way to figures in some kind of hideous orange uniform looking thing, but they were no match for him. Swinging their swords around like a bunch of second rate stage actors they were no match for the far more modern techniques Best Jeanist, Aizawa, and several others had drilled into his head.

Either that or they just sucked in general. It was a little hard to tell.

It was possible these guys were the fashion challenged equivalent of purse snatchers.

Regardless, he thoroughly enjoyed the chance to unreservedly beat something up after the extremely uncomfortable conversation he'd been having with Eijirou. Speaking of...

He glanced over at the dragon to make sure he was alright only to feel his heart stop at the sight of one of those freaks doing a move right out of any fantasy rpg. He sprinted forward before he could think, fear clawing at his throat, and vaulted over Eijirou's exposed back in a desperate bid to take out the mage trying to cast something at it.

Bakugo could feel the air around him coalesce, crackling with energy. His chest felt tight as the prickle of magic sputtered over his skin. An explosion rocketed him forward, his free hand reaching out for the mage aiming to drop a whole lot of hurt on Eijirou.

He could hear Eijirou roar something out behind him, if it was a warning or not, Bakugo wasn't listening.

He braced himself, his metal plated kneepad scraped deep gouges into the earth. He planted himself squarely and braced his arm, firing off a powerful explosion that rocketed all the way up to his shoulder.

The spell flashed in a blinding light and Bakugo looked up in shock, meteorites plummeting down from the sky like deadly shrapnel. An attack like that would tear him apart in a second.

He was saved from thinking when suddenly he was tackled from above. Eijirou was on him, pinning Bakugo's body flat between his hard chest and the firm ground. Scarlet eyes bore into his, furious and alarmed. His fangs were bared into a snarl, scales crossing over his cheeks and layering upon themselves thickly.

He curled over Bakugo, and no matter how much he shouted in alarm and tried to shove him off, the dragon dug in deeper. He rode out the very spell Bakugo had wanted to save him from, his eyes hard and angry.

Eijirou stood up, seemingly unaffected except for the slight smoking of his back. He extended a hand to Bakugo, and only after a moment of hesitation did he take it.

Bakugo was hauled back to his feet, their remaining enemies scattering away now that their big attack had failed.

"What the hell was that?" Bakugo demanded Eijirou after a moment, and the dragon had the gall to look utterly shocked before he growled back at him.

"I should be the one asking you that! My scales are resistant to magic and physical attacks, you would have been killed!" Eijirou snarled, and under his anger, Bakugo could see the dragon's very real fear.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that?" Bakugo shot back, "I saw that asswipe trying to cast something at your back, a back I fucking swore to guard, and for all I knew it'd have the same effect as whatever that goddam mojo was the slayers in your story used!"

"When did you swear to guard my back?" Eijirou demanded, "For the last several hours all you've been saying is that you're not my Katsuki, and I don't know anything about you! So why the hell do you even care about my back?"

"Because dragon, human, or any goddam thing in between I fucking love you rocks for brains!" Bakugo roared furiously, his temper finally snapping completely under the stress of the day, "I don't fucking deserve any part of you, but I can do one thing right for you! I can guarantee no lowlife bastard ever gets his hands on you! The fuck about that is so hard to understand?"

He was cut off from his enraged rant by a pair of strong arms snapping around his waist and a hot mouth devouring his like he was the best tasting water for a man dying of thirst. His brain stalled out as it tried to process the sudden shift in the conversation, but that didn't stop the rest of him from moaning desperately into that mouth and kissing it back with everything he had.

Every single moment of pent up emotion he'd had going back to his first year in UA when Kirishima had somehow invaded his life and turned his heart upside down.

His arms were trapped between their bodies, but Eijirou didn't seem interested in moving away from Bakugo and allowing him any room to hold him back.

So instead Bakugo grabbed a hold of the dumb looking bandana he had tied around his neck, yanking him authoritatively forward even as he drowned in Eijirou.

And he would have fully succumbed if it wasn't for an unwelcome and wholly familiar, "well this is awkward." coming from just out of sight in the tree line.

Bakugo ripped himself from Eijirou, panting hard from the devouring kiss that almost stole his very soul. His hands and arms trembled and he chanced a look at Eijirou.

The dragon's eyes were greedy and dark on him, his tongue running along his lips as if to savor the taste of Bakugo on them. His heart jumped and threw itself angrily against his ribcage, absolutely wanting to go right back into the arms of the hungry dragon.

No. No. No! This wasn't damn right and Bakugo fucking knew it. Maybe Katsuki was some hotshot king here, but Bakugo hadn't earned his place yet. Hadn't earned that devotion.

Guilt stabbed through his chest like a harpoon as he recalled Kamino Ward and the nightmares that followed it. His failure. His weakness. The fall of All Might that landed squarely on his shoulders.

But he yearned for it. Everything in his body screamed, cried, and begged for it. He yearned for Kirishima like it was a part of himself that was trying to return home.

Unable to look at those determined ruby eyes again, Bakugo stubbornly shoved his way past Eijirou and into the woods.

Where he stopped rigid at the cage that was planted right in the underbrush.

All Bakugo's self destructive thoughts flew away in an instant.

There, behind bars and magically restrained, was none other than Todoroki Shouto, balefully glaring at Bakugo as if only mildly annoyed by his circumstances.

Dressed in his hero gear.

A gleeful smile broke over Bakugo's face, the first sign of good news in well over a day.

"The hell are you doing here Icyhot?"

"Watching you shove your tongue down Kirishima's throat finally it seems." Todoroki replied dryly, a faint twitch of his lips the only indication of how amusing he really found the situation.

"The hell do you mean 'finally' half and half?" Bakugo demanded, that little twitch of lips pissing him off.

Todoroki huffed impatiently as Eijirou crashed through the underbrush to join them, "And Izuku says I'm oblivious. You and Kirishima are literally the only ones unaware of the fact that you two have been circling each other since school. Now are you going to help me out of this thing or not?"

"Oh have they?!" Eijirou exclaimed gleefully as he knelt to melt off the lock on the cage, "Do tell me more about that Prin-er, Todoroki was it?"

Todoroki frowned and cocked his head slightly, "Kirishima we've known each other for the past five years. Nearly six."

Eijirou shook his head cheerfully, "No sorry. Technically you haven't." He gestured to Bakugo, "It seems you and Kat-Bakugo have somehow traveled back to your previous lives and switched places with your past selves."

Todoroki's eyes widened with such surprise it would've been comical if Bakugo hadn't been so irritated to learn that his 'secret' crush hadn't really been all that secret. Except to the one it was directed to apparently.

"That... makes sense actually." He replied slowly and Bakugo re-focused his gaze sharply on Todoroki.

"Okay talk Icyhot." He ordered, "Just what the hell kind of fucked up quirk are we suffering from?"

"It's called Regression." Todoroki replied, "Izuku and I got a report of a shopkeeper being robbed in our area. When we went to investigate we discovered that the man thought he was five years old again."

He flashed Eijirou a grateful half smile as the cage popped open and Eijirou helped him out to pull the cuffs off, "Once we began digging more deeply into the matter we found a similar pattern happening all over the city. Izuku theorized that our villain was either testing the limits of his quirk or advertising so we went to Aizawa for assistance from the underground heroes and we found out the situation was far worse than we'd imagined."

"How worse?" Bakugo growled darkly, a silent promise of pain for the villain in his voice.

"In some of the victims they were reduced back to infants or toddlers, terrified and unable to control their quirks." Todoroki replied grimly, "Others seemed to change personality entirely. I realize now this was presumably because they'd switched places with their past selves but at the time we thought there was some other factor at work. They returned fairly quickly to their normal selves, so I suspect there's a small limit on who can be changed with their past selves at any given time. With Aizawa and the police's help we were able to round up all the victims, but the villain himself eluded us until we cornered him last night."

He shrugged slightly, "You know most of the rest I imagine. I inadvertently made eye contact with him and found myself in the middle of a different fight. I presume my counterpart was pushed to the present, though I can't understand how such a transferal is possible given we should've regressed to our past selves."

"That may have to do with the types of lives you lived." Eijirou mused, "This is a magically rich time period. It's possible that if this man's quirk pushed you back to this era then it might've interacted with the magic to cause a physical switch instead of merely a mental one."

Todoroki bobbed his head in acknowledgment, "It's as plausible a theory as any." He agreed, "Regardless, I presume the Izuku of our time called for backup, which was how you got involved."

"Yeah, apparently your shitty self from this world decided to set a bunch of buildings on fire so Deku lost the villain," Bakugo grunted, "Last I heard that moron had your dumb self under control."

"Speaking of dumb, apparently we're in the middle of a war with your shitty old man," Bakugo knocked a fist against the cage, ignoring Eijirou and his attempt to soften the blow of his words a little.

Todoroki looked a little distressed by the news his alternate self had likely caused quite a bit of damage, but seemed a little appeased that shitty Deku was on the case. Bakugo glanced over at Todoroki who was observing the cage.

"It doesn't surprise me that my father is just as difficult in this world as he is in ours," He sighed and glanced at Eijirou, "If it's not too much trouble, could you catch me up to date on what I can expect?"

"I was captured and left unharmed, but it seemed as if a trap was laid for you both," Todoroki observed.

"No shit Sherlock," Bakugo snarled back at him, his eyes flashing over to Eijirou, "If Endeavor is as much of a eugenics-happy, greedy shit as he is in our world, then it's likely he's trying to move in on Katsuki's territory."

"That won't be possible with me guarding the border," Eijirou growled, but looked fairly smug. Bakugo glanced at the dragon and nodded.

"Which is why we're being lured away from the border of Katsuki's lands," Bakugo reasoned critically, his eyes narrowing. He felt like fucking Deku as he tried to understand what the other version of himself was thinking.

Logically it would be safer for Eijirou to protect his lands. He was a fortress, an impenetrable wall that Endeavors troops couldn't break through. And clearly Katsuki hadn't shared these concerns with Eijirou, who was beginning to fall still and look at him with something akin to faint alarm in the back of his eyes.

It struck him all at once, and Bakugo glanced back at the cage, which was frankly ridiculous in size to contain a single man.

"Endeavor is after me and Kirishima," Todoroki frowned, understanding the leap in a frustrating way before Bakugo could voice it, "the other you must have figured it out."

Bakugo shot him a scowl while Eijirou's jaw dropped in shock before his eyes narrowed angrily, "He did what?"

The question wasn't shouted, it was barely above a whisper, but there was absolutely no mistaking Eijirou's fury. Bakugo eyed him curiously and shrugged.

"It's obvious if you think about it." He replied offhandedly, "Having a dragon on his side would be a hell of a weapon if he could force you to cooperate. And having one on Icyhot's side would leave him fucked."

"And leave the border unprotected?" Eijirou demanded in outrage, but Bakugo snorted derisively at that.

"You seriously think any version of me couldn't hold a fucking border for a couple of weeks Shitty Hair?" He asked, "By the time Endeavor realized he'd fucked up against his son and turned his attention to your territory Katsuki'd have the whole fucking army ready to meet him. And with you coming in from behind there'd be nowhere he could run."

He scowled, "What pisses me off is this whole piss poor ambush bullshit." He kicked the cage, "I'm not dumb enough to spill my plans like that to just anyone, and I doubt Katsuki is either. That makes a damn shortlist of assholes who would've known enough to even set up an ambush."

"A traitor." Todoroki growled, his eyes narrowing with restrained fury, "It's UA all over again."

Bakugo nodded, "Yeah. But there's no telling who the fucking traitor is. This place is a good mirror of us, but it's not exact. UA's traitor and this one could be totally different."

"So the question becomes what we do now." Todoroki frowned, "There's no question I'll need to meet up with my counterpart's army, or rebellion, or whatever he has, if they're going to have any hope of dealing with my father." He looked at Eijirou, "And I apologize if this upsets you, but as the only one familiar with this era and the only one present we can trust, your assistance will be essential."

Eijirou frowned and shifted uncomfortably, "I want to help, but I have an obligation to protect my own home." His frown deepened, "Especially if there's a traitor around. I need to find out who."

"Don't be dumbass," Bakugo glanced at Eijirou, "What did you tell me when I first landed here? If Icyhot's shitty kingdom falls, then there is nothing between them and Katsuki's kingdom."

"That's true," Eijirou growled and dragged a hand along his face, "damn it Katsuki."

No doubt he was wondering why his idiotic lover hadn't told him about his plans. Bakugo thought it was obvious, but Eijirou clearly didn't. Not that he blamed him, Katsuki not being here threw several wrenches in an otherwise decent plan.

"Alright, Prince Shouto- uh Todoroki, we'll escort you to Izuku," Eijirou said firmly, "No matter what the plans were, they've changed."

Bakugo could see the tension in Eijirou's shoulders. He was angry with Katsuki for keeping his secrets.

Not that he blamed him, but based on what Bakugo knew of their relationship and his own Kirishima, it seemed like a perfectly logical thing for him to keep to himself. Kirishima was stubborn as hell, and he would have wanted to face his attackers head-on.

But the risk of forcing Kirishima to experience one of the worst moments of his life when they were prepared for a dragon? Absolutely not.

He wished he could quiet the buzzing in his brain, the constant anxiety he felt for possible tactics and impossible situations roaring to mind.

His palms prickled with sweat, frustration boiling up in him. Eijirou made it pretty clear he didn't want or need protection, but he was just as hard headed as Kirishima. They could be moved, they could be hurt.

Bakugo couldn't be paralyzed with indecision though, he had to figure a way out of this situation that was progressing out of his control.

For a moment he was okay to silently take after Eijirou's lead. They couldn't think of any next step until they got to fucking Deku anyway.

He just hoped they could figure out a fix for this mess once they met up with the damned nerd or he might blow something up out of frustration. Though if they could...

He shot Eijirou a speculative look out of the corner of his eye. If they could, then maybe next time Eijirou decided to molest him he'd actually be worthy of the praise. Assuming the damned dragon didn't turn his brain into mush before then. And assuming he was here that long. Still, it was a pleasant thought that put a warm burn in his chest.

He rather liked the idea of proving to Eijirou he was just as good, if not better, than his past self. And therefore worthy of what he was offering so freely.

And when he got back... he'd have to follow up on Icyhot's claim that Kirishima was hot for him in their time too. If he was, well... he might be unworthy but he wasn't stupid. And the number one and number two positions were just begging to be filled by him and Kirishima and their agency the top agency in Japan.

That had to be at least as good as saving a couple of shitty kingdoms right?