Their journey continues for another two days, their final afternoon approaching.
Having made quite a lot of progress, there is no urgency in the shared steps of the demon and cleric. There is only a peaceful lull of the breeze in the forest carrying her bell-like voice while she recounts stories to him again. The crunch of their walk accentuates their scenery, and Bakugo is left mindlessly staring at the human beside him.
He can't help it. He's drawn to her magnetically, like he can't keep his eyes off her. Ochaco doesn't seem to notice or mind, because she chatters away to him animatedly, completing her sentences with a flick of her wrist or a wave, her expression bright. Apparently she's forgiven him for his words yesterday, showing no signs of anger or annoyance.
Her social nature has led to the hours on foot to pass rather fast, and the sun has already hit the peak of the sky. A matter of another hour or two, and they'll be on the edges of his castle.
Whilst enjoying his time with her, the unknown of what will happen when they reach, leaves him sorely despising the lack of time between them. What will become of her? Obviously, the answer would be to devour her soul and leave her body to his lesser henchmen. The thought, however, leaves him sick to his stomach.
She's practically dancing her way right into a den of wolves, without any doubt or uncertainty. He doesn't understand how she can make each step without cowering in fear. Most others he's guided here have begun whimpering barely a night before. The ones with the most fear taste sweet and a bit salty, whereas the braver are tangy with a bit of a bite to their blood.
He's been dragging his feet, and he knows it. Every minute they get closer to where she will surely meet her demise. He can't stop imagining it in his head, and it isn't a pretty sight.
Katsuki, for once in his existence, is unsure of himself.
Every second he learns more about her, like the names of her parents, or how she has six siblings. She has two horses named Josephine and Penelope that she told her younger sisters they could take care of. She loves animals and the stories about her childhood are never ending. She's genuinely complete just by rehashing every little tidbit of her memory.
Her personality deepens every hour. How is he supposed to keep up with her energy? It's almost exhausting.
Not that he minds, though.
"Have you ever seen birch jerky?" She's on another topic, her lips curved into a soft smile. "My brother, Kota, thought them up when he was knee height. It definitely didn't taste good, but we put a little seasoning on it and pretended for him, and it was so funny watching him take a big bite and try to chew. He's grown up to really be a popular baker now, but I miss the old days when he would try to feed me mud pies, haha. If you go deep into the mountains, you can find some of the most amazing rock candy. Though, my teeth got tested on rocks long before I actually tried the real candy."
Although, her family might kill her sooner or later. None of them sound quite sane. Are humans always this weird?
He tolerates it, however, shaking his head. "I don't… eat a lot of snacks."
She raises a brow. "Why not?"
"You might think of me as a health nut," he replies, trying to dodge the question. It doesn't work.
"A health nut? Honestly, I hardly see you eat," Ochaco notes, tapping a finger to her chin. "Do you have any favorite foods?"
He frowns, wishing the subject was already changed and scrambling to come up with an answer. "Not really, I guess? If I had to pick one, I tend to like… Uh… Starfruit?" He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.
Surprise flows over her face. "You've got some taste. You can't find starfruit anywhere but the southern regions. It's so far out of the way, you must travel often."
"I wouldn't say often, but I do like to now and then."
"I've never had starfruit, but I imagine it's good," she smiles. "Could you describe it for me?"
Ah, shit. How the hell is he supposed to make this up, on the spot?
"Er… Sweet," he mumbles. "Kinda… sour? Like candy, I'd say."
"Oh. That does sound good," she laughs, something hard to imitate but light on his ears. "Thanks. I think that just heightened my curiosity."
Finally, allowed to change the topic, he breathes a sigh of relief. It's not easy answering questions about himself when he's not a human. He can't reveal more about his real self, so he pretends to have more natural traits and habits, something he doesn't exactly excel at. His food doesn't usually last long enough to matter.
"Y'know…"
The beautiful cleric draws his attention again, and he meets her gaze.
"What?"
"You don't seem as prickly anymore," Ochaco notes.
He frowns instantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Her head shakes, the smooth brown locks around her face bobbing gracefully. "Nothing, really. I just think you like me a bit more now. You're not as rude."
He stares at her, eyes narrow. "I dunno if that sounds like a compliment."
She simply shrugs, that smug grin still playing at her lips. "Then don't take it as one, but it's not a bad thing. This has been… a bit nice."
Nice?
He's at a loss there, unsure how to address the way those words feel aimed at him. It's not like he's been trying to make her like him, but now it suddenly seems a bit obvious how his feelings have changed.
Feelings? Ah, fuck this. There's no way…
He gears himself up, ready to make a snide comment and repair his reputation. "I don't know what you mean—"
As the sentence leaves his mouth, something makes a large crushing noise mixed with a low rumble. It sounds close, too close, and he's tensed up right away.
Like it's on cue, something started to burrow through the trees towards them. He can only see its hulking mass, noticing that it's not one of his own waiting in ambush and instead something much too wild to be controlled. He'd write it off as a normal forest animal if it wasn't making the trees shake.
No, this isn't normal at all. This looks like trouble.
Before he knows what he's doing, he's slid himself in front of Cheeks, his fingers already cracking in anticipation for what lies ahead.
Emerging from the treeline before them, a wolf-like creature makes its appearance. The gray fur is matted and the skin rotting off in spots, revealing pulsing purple flesh underneath. Beady, black eyes stare the two down with a bloodlust visible even from here. It's huge, with dark saliva pouring from the maw lined in razor sharp, glinting yellow teeth.
"What is that?!" Uraraka shouts in horror.
It's not even a heartbeat later, with a spitting roar that shakes the ground they stand on, it charges at Katsuki.
Shoving her out of harm's way, he dodges the opposite direction. Jagged claws tear through the dirt he had been standing on, before whirling to face him again. Bakugo sidesteps and draws the attention to himself in the vain hope it'll keep off Uraraka for a moment.
It's then he realizes something with a striking urgency; he can't use his own demonic powers here. If he does, she'll know who- no, what he is. He can't expose himself when he's this close to triumph.
Well, it looks like he'll be doing this the old fashion hard way.
Cheeks, however, is already moving on her own behind the big monster, her gloved hands summoning some kind of violet color ball of energy that glows under her fingers. With a quick fling, she throws it into its neck with a small cry. It connects easily, and the creature writhes for a moment in pain, then starts to focus its sights on her. Bakugo is already on his way, however, inwardly appreciating her quick thinking.
He's knocked back in the moment by a powerful swish of the wolf's tail, the motion preventing him from catching up quickly. As he dances out of the way, sword drawn and ready to fight back, he witnesses the wolf leaping into the air toward the young cleric. Her arms fly up to cover her face, unable to cast a spell in time to counter the blow. Her hat falls off her head as she falls to her knees to dodge.
Bakugo can see her life flash before his eyes, and it's enough.
Something comes over him, and he's already in front of her before he can even think.
With a defensive stance, he rushes to her side, and blocks the strike with his own body. The force of the hit sends his heels digging into the ground, and a sharp sensation runs through his lower left arm like rings of fire.
Another roar bellows out of the wolf creature as it meets his ruby red glare, preparing to attack him again, but a sonic wave of power rushes past Bakugo and collides with the monster, sending it flying over the trees and into the distance in one fell swoop. The strength of the magic used is enough to make a battle torn hero quake in his boots, and it doesn't go unnoticed by Katsuki that it came from Cheeks.
In the sudden safety of the situation, he allows himself to take a knee, a lance of pain coursing up his arm. The injury is pretty grotesque, with four claw marks leaving crimson blood trailing down his skin, dripping off his fingertips.
"Are you okay?!"
Cheeks is suddenly sitting at his side, planted in the grass beside him, with her hands outstretched like she's about to make for his arm and her staff thrown aside. Reflexively he pulls away, clasping his palm over it and shooting her a glare.
"I'm fine."
"That doesn't look fine." She frowns at his stubbornness. "Let me see it."
If she sees it, she'll know.
He can already feel his powers at work, knitting his skin and inner flesh back together under his hand. It would be problematic for her to stick her nose in this.
Yet she's already leaning over him, her slender fingers posed and her mouth moving in a chant.
"Knock it off-"
He tries to protest, but she's already casting her magic on him, a blue glow emerging between each finger and illuminating their faces for just a few seconds. It expedites his own ability to regenerate, the injury disappearing in a breath. The pain, short-lived as it was, is gone without a trace.
When she's done, she slides his palm away and peeks into the torn cloth of his rough glove, nodding at her handiwork and clicking her tongue. A flicker of relief passes over her petite features.
She turns her head up to look at him, her brown curls bobbing around her face, and gives him a small, sheepish smile.
"Um… Thank you. For saving me, I mean."
Tongue suddenly seven times too big, he simply nods, mindlessly getting lost in the autumn hue in her eyes.
Unwilling tension takes hold of them, and he is uncomfortably aware of how close she is to him. With them situated together, her still leaning over him and fingers brushing against the taut muscle of his arm, he can't stop noticing the little details about her face, the stray strands of hair dangling in her eyes, her pale pink lips, the slight shakiness of her inhalations. A heady scent of oranges mixed with lotus wafts through his nose with each small movement of her body, making him wish to draw her closer and toss aside inhibition altogether. Their faces are barely inches apart, and it would take nothing to pull her into his arms.
A carnal, overwhelming feeling. He wishes to speak, but if he did, he wouldn't be able to control the words that would come pouring out.
She is first to break contact, to his chagrin. He debates his missed opportunity- for what, he isn't sure- as Uraraka looks to the left of his shoulder, her expression darkening. A familiar human trait, dread, filling her face.
He follows, tracking her vision, and realizes that looming beyond the trees here, a stark contrast against the mountains they left behind, is his castle. Dark and foreboding, it leaves the duo quiet, her in thought, him in his own mixture of regret.
A mere half day's travel. It won't be long.
"We're… almost there," her voice, light as bells but heavy, rings out, and he looks to her just as she picks herself up and brushes down the faded jade skirt cover around her leggings. Determination and strength are all he can see there, but deep within, the faintest tinge of fear rests. No human could possibly go without it at the sight.
It leaves him hollow, as he follows suit. It shouldn't unsettle him to see his own castle, but it does.
His body becomes leaden, and a decision lies before him. This changes everything.
The end of this charade approaches.
.x.X.x.
The tension between the cleric and demon is palpable now, especially with the castle encroaching ever closer. She leads the way, and he trails her, eyes trained on her back.
Katsuki Bakugo, unable now to deny the growing affection for the human, feels nothing but shame alongside it. How could he have hit the bottom of the barrel this hard? These feelings….. They're human in nature. He isn't supposed to have them, but they're here to stay. He can't imagine taking her soul from her now, but if he stops the journey this close, she'll go on without him. There's no preventing her from knowing his true self; they've gone on a collision course with it and it's too late.
How will she take it? There's only one option; poorly. After all she's told him, the reaction he's expecting is outrageous. She's been through enough because of him that it won't be anything short of hatred.
The idea of her despising him leaves a bitter flavor on his tongue.
"Be wary," he warns her, the crunch of twigs snapping beneath their feet being the only thing allowing itself be heard. "The closer we get, the more chance we'll run into guards."
"I'm not worried, really," she says, shrugging. "I think we can handle it."
Blind confidence. Damn it. He would have loved to have her chicken out of her own accord. Instead, he just watches her grip her staff closer to her side, both hands around the handle worn with time, the tip of her hat dipped low over her face.
Yet, despite his caution, there's nothing to be worried about. All presence outside the castle seems… gone. Too silent. Normally there would be at least something to protect his land, but there's a sickening feeling in his gut, a truth making itself known.
His armies know he's arrived home, and they're waiting to greet him.
One last trip underneath low-hanging branches, and suddenly the two adventurers are face to face with the front of the castle, a wide drawbridge leading up to the massive black oak doors. A dried moat crusted in faded greenery lies underneath, and a few human bones lie forlorn, half buried.
Without a shred of hesitance, she takes a step forward, and his hand is already on her arm, his fingertips burning where they touch her skin. She stops and turns her head to look at him, captivating eyes searching his face.
"Be careful," is all he can manage, and she simply offers him a quick nod, mouth pressed into a thin line. She appreciates his small kindness, even though he knows it's laced in selfishness.
Crossing the bridge in quick, long strides, she arrives at the doors, taking a deep breath and then throwing them open.
He follows after her as she hurries inside, eyes darting each way. He knows they're here somewhere.
This isn't unfamiliar to them, but if they jump her right now, he won't hesitate to slaughter them.
Inside the lobby of the castle, long and once elegant carpet is tattered and brown instead of red, and there are two crumbling marble staircases that wind around the room, leading to the upper floor where his throne room resides. His throat seems to be closing in on itself, and he can't summon words as she begins to make her way inside, a deadset determination written in her every move.
Wait, Cheeks… You don't want to know what you'll find.
"I think it's upstairs," she murmurs, staring up at the great staircase. "It's a little unnerving that there's no guards, but… let's go."
She casts another glance his way, and they share a moment where he wishes he could tell her everything; yet, it stays locked up inside him.
Speak, damn you, speak.
Up the stairs and they stand before the doors of his throne room. This time, he's the one who waits to open the door, receiving her signal, and then bracing himself.
It's too late now for regrets.
He sends the door flying open, and she rushes inside, ready to confront the king.
The stained glass windows on either side of the long throne room are broken, shattered in multiple places. Giant stone pillars extend from floor to ceiling, barely holding up the weight of the building and cracking. The floor, once a beautiful mahogany, is scuffed and long since in need of repair, covered by a ripped red intricate carpet that's seen a few too many decades. Vaulted marble ceilings above, covered in cobwebs and with holes threatening to grow larger with time. There's many shadows cascading through the room, and the light peering through the dusty glass is barely enough to see to the back.
His throne, left unattended, is gold and black in nature, the only polished and tended thing he owns. If there were even a speck of dirt in the past, a head would have rolled and he would have repainted it with blood. Now, it makes his stomach turn. The castle itself, in its current disarray, was bequeathed to him when he was first created by many generations of his demon family.
It feels small and disappointing when Cheeks lays her eyes upon it, her expression twisting into anger and grimness. The realization that no one sits atop the throne leaves her dumbfounded.
"He isn't here?" she squeaks. "Where is he?!"
"Cheeks…"
His voice finally starts to work, but as he reaches out to her in the midst of the room, the area comes to life.
Gargoyles, gremlins, winged creatures without names. Crawling, buzzard demons, devils. As if melting from the very property, they emerge from the shadows, surrounding the two.
Fear streaks over the young woman, and she clutches to her staff with white knuckle hands, eyes darting all around her.
"Watch out!" she shrieks.
However, one by one drop to a knee, or whatever constitutes the same, each one taking a bow toward them and lowering their head. The show of loyalty leaves them all prone around them, much to her confusion.
"Welcome back, Master Bakugo."
The chorus of voices leaves behind an empty void in sound as Ochaco turns slowly to him, her teeth grit together in stress, eyebrows knit together, putting together two and two. Her cream-colored cheeks turn even more pale with realization.
"It's… you?!" she chokes, the word spitting out of her mouth like acid.
A wave of emotion unlike any he's felt before washes over him; pure regret. He isn't one for remorse, or apologies, yet now he is lost, unsure how to approach her.
She stares down at her hands, chest heaving sharply, her staff waving a bit haphazardly as she tries to speak.
"You've known. You led me here." It's final, not a question but a statement.
Without thinking, he reaches out to her, but his hand meets with the sharp end of her short sword. She had whipped it from its sheath so fast that it was a blur of motion.
"Don't touch me." Her anger is desperate, her eyes turning to dark ice.
Cheeks forces the sword up to his adam's apple, and the demons start to converge onto her in protection of him, yet he waves his hand away, shooing them.
"Cheeks, let me explain." The words are greeted by a swift jab of the tip of the sword against his skin.
"No. Don't call me that. Someone I thought was my friend called me that, and I was betrayed." Her words are harsh and rushed, and he can see the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes."I should kill you right where you stand, demon."
He grows quiet, giving her the silence she desires, and she inhales deeply, her resolve faltering as she looks up at him.
Slowly, she lowers the sword, allowing it to fall to her side and her eyes to train themselves on his floor.
"...I can't kill you now," she whispers. "Not… not after all we… I…"
Her shoulders arch back then, and she meets his eyes for one more moment, a furtive desperation there behind her beautiful brown irises; then she brushes past his shoulder and begins walking towards the exit.
"I'm leaving."
He spins on his heel. Dread claws at his empty heart, telling him he'll never see her again if he lets her go. "Wait!"
He takes one step before her words halt him in his tracks.
With a glare cast aside at him, her pretty lips form the saddest grimace.
"I can't believe I fell in love with you."
A hole the size of her sword rips through him then, and he is left frozen on the spot. He doesn't have to breathe, but it still rips the air from his lungs.
"What did you say?"
Her silence and pained expression only goads him further, another step. The confirmation is written on her face.
"Cheeks, you love me?"
Her jaw grows taut. "I-"
She can't speak another word, as he cuts the distance between them into pieces, his arms wrapping around her small body and dragging her into his chest, nestling his face into her shoulder. She is a statue under his touch, but he can't get enough of her unique scent and the softness of her hair.
"Let go of me," she cries futilely, struggling to get out, and he only tightens his hold. He doesn't care about the monsters around them, or anything else except her.
"I love you." The words are sweet, replacing his own bittersweet betrayal in his mouth. "I love you."
She becomes still, but her eyes are sewn shut, refusing to see him.
He has to get through to her.
"I'll do anything, Ochaco. I'll give anything up for you. I will do whatever you ask, but please… stay with me."
Finally, her eyes meet his, and he takes his opportunity to spin her into his chest, unable to hold himself back from cresting his lips over hers, drawing a shocked noise from the cleric. It's warm, leaving a hot feeling in his skin he hasn't felt before. She's soft and pliable underneath him, body lithe and fitting into his palms easily.
He draws away, and she lets in a ragged breath, cheeks now rosy. She stares up at him, left speechless.
It takes her a moment to get her bearings, but the tears are still flowing openly down her cheeks.
"How can we be together?" she barely mumbles. "You're the reason Izuku died. How do I know this isn't all just lies?"
Finally, an area of expertise for him. Holding her face in his hands, he forces her to look at him.
"I will never harm another human, Cheeks," he promises her. "After being with you, all I want is to be with you, however you want it. I'll do anything as long as you're by my side. If you stay, I will be yours. There will be no more village raids and death from my kingdom for as long as we reign together. For however long you need my penance, I will give it to you until I am able to earn your forgiveness."
For once, she can see the very honest truth hidden there, and hear it in his sincere words.
Then, a smile that could light the world up after a blackout rises over her expression, and she kisses him again so he may feel her answer. He sweeps her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style, and when they part again, there is only happiness there.
Well. Save for the room full of very confused demons.
"But sire!" An onlooker declares. "Not many of us will follow you if you pursue this route."
He frowns, but then looks at his beloved, the two of them exchanging a knowing look. He allows her back to her feet, and she picks up her staff. He, instead, cracks both knuckles and allows a wide grin to spread across his face.
Who needs a few lousy demons in exchange for a powerful, beautiful cleric?
"Well," he says, as mutiny begins to spread amongst his ranks. Cheeks stands at his side, posed at the ready.
"I'll just have to beat the hell out of you until you follow!"