With the elemental slain, Stoneveil was safe to let its guard down a little. The residence still able to move worked around the clock to monitor the Leeching Vines' growth and some to work with the ill. The group of adventurers took the time to relax, knowing their final stretch of this journey would be tomorrow, buried somewhere deep in the mines now home to the core of the vines. As nightfall approached, Kiara sat back in the inn's main hall to listen to her sister play a gentle melody on her flute, the streams of music notes soothing those who remained unrestful due to their illnesses.
Ciana sat by at a table as she listened to the song Jiro played, the melody was nice as it reminded her a little of how her mom would play the piano. Ciana was sitting by herself as she watched the others talk or mess around, even Bakugos usual temper that had her chuckle. Smiling at the sight around her. "Reminds me of how everyone would be at the dorm…"
Ciana smile turned sad at the memory, the week was probably up by now so likely everyone returned to UA. "I wonder how everyone did on their internship…" plopping her elbows on the table and holding her face up, Ciana sighed more sadly… missing her friends still… eyeing Jiro playing her flute, Ciana felt a little left out since she can't really sing anymore… she doesn't even have Izuku by her side anymore to talk to or be close to…
"You okay?" The one sat next to her was Kirishima. "Not to sound creepy, I saw you sitting alone for a while looking at everyone,"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm alright." She waved it off with her usual smile. "Just kinda flash-backing to the good times I had with my other friends I left…" Ciana ends up sharing. "Just seeing everyone like this reminds me a lot of the fun times I had with them."
"Right, you left them to try and get a hold on your shifter abilities to protect them," He nodded along, sat down with his arm on the table as scales formed over the forearm only. "It can be pretty scary at first, I know I hated how it looked, I wanted nothing to do with this curse. But like I said, I got people who see me for me, and slowly, seeing my body chance from human to dragon and then back didn't matter so much, want to know why?"
"You don't seem like the type to let a power like this bother you…" she chuckles, recalling the Kirishima she knew seemed pretty proud of his own power he was born with. "But why is that?" She ends up asking with a curious tilt of her head.
He closed his dragon fist, giving a toothy grin. "Because I can protect my friends; doesn't matter to me if I turn into a beast and back again, in the end, they're safe, and now this whole village I want to protect with it too - I'm certain you'll do the same once you've got total control over your shifter ability," Then he quickly put up a finger. "Oh, except for Harvest moons, dunno why, just my senses feel heightened when that happens, but they're not frequent so it's really a small bump,"
"Wait… a harvest moon? You mean like when the moon becomes all big and yellow?" That had her a little confused, sounds like something that usually happens with werewolves. "What does that have to do with being a dragon…?"
Kirishima shrugged, clearly as lost as she was, "Not sure, I asked Denki but he said some animals feel heightened by it or something? But it's not a big deal, just makes it harder to shift back when it happens, after that night, everything was normal again,"
"Uh… so your saying I turn into a dragon without meaning by then? Is this something for me to worry about by any chance…?" The way he described that incident had her shiver a bit thinking she will end up like a werewolf…
"Not really, think of it like being in drake form without needing to turn it off for the night, or while you're in view of the moon... yeah!" He smiled again.
"I don't get how you can be so chill about the whole thing when it sounds so scary and concerning…" she sweat-dropped with a sheepish smile. "The whole instincts things is the most concerning for me cuz I behave differently which is really creepy… have you by any chance ever had feelings for a girl before…?" Ciana wasn't sure if Kirishima ever had a love interest but figured she should ask his experience.
The question surprised him, giving it a thought as he leaned back. "I'm not sure... I spent years as a dragon so my memory before is still foggy - oh!" Sitting forward again, he grinned sheepishly, scratching at his cheek. "I remember someone... mainly because of her pink hair and skin, I remember that vividly, I guess her? I think we were friends before my curse, that's someone I want to meet again now that I have control,"
"Why am I not surprised it's Ashido…" she murmured and chuckles knowing how close they are in UA. "Well let me tell ya… having a dragon personality when you have feelings for someone is… not very easy to control…" she sighed dramatically as her head ended up hitting the table. Hiding her face. "It's absolutely embarrassing…"
His face remained the same for a bit, then his eyes flashed with understanding, his face a little red, "Oooh, okay, so that's what's giving you trouble," Then it hit him. "Actually, this is a good time to help you. If we can get control over your instincts before tomorrow, the two of us could be the frontlines for everyone! Want to try? I swear, this really does help!"
Hearing this, her face turn to the side to be in view again and eyed Kirishima as her brow raised in wonder of this suggestion. "I'll take all the help I can get… what do you have in mind?" She asks, lifting her face back up again as Ciana straightened up to listen properly.
His red cheeks faded as he gave her a confident smirk. "Let's go beyond the village for this, over that ridge again, if I can get my sense of self back, then so can you, today proved that with how in sync we were!"
She giggled at this, definitely a lot like the Kirishima she knows. "Sounds pretty manly… let's do it!" Already Ciana stands up, eager and a bit excited to be in training under her counterpart friend.
Up on the ridge at a safe distance, Kirishima turned to her with a smile. "Alright, so your instincts are the big issue, so the idea is to let them out freely - rejecting them is what will cause problems, I tried to resist as long as I could when my curse started to take effect, and it made me suffer from mood swings and aggressive acts, I... was really lost back then," That thought didn't deter him. "So that's what we'll do, to avoid what happened to me from happening to you,"
Ciana nodded to show she was listening, but fiddled with her hands in nervousness of the idea of letting it out freely. "B-but if I just embrace the instincts… w-what if I end up killing someone? And… you know how animals behave around their mates don't you…?" The last part she asked with her brow raised, thinking if she embraced that side then she could accidentally rape Izuku… it was even more embarrassing mentioning this to one of her guy friends.
"This is exactly why you have to; if you keep rejecting them they'll never become a natural part of you, like breathing, and... I get that it's scary," He frowned now, closing his hands tightly. "I... hurt people when I first lost control, I tried fighting it for so long that..." Letting out a breath, he stared at his hands seriously. "I don't want that to happen to you, that's not fair on you or the people around you,"
"This is exactly why you have to; if you keep rejecting them they'll never become a natural part of you, like breathing, and... I get that it's scary," He frowned now, closing his hands tightly. "I... hurt people when I first lost control, I tried fighting it for so long that..." Letting out a breath, he stared at his hands seriously. "I don't want that to happen to you, that's not fair on you or the people around you,"
"Wait… so you're saying I should act violent and intimidate…?" That part got her kinda confused as her head tilted at this with her brows narrowed processing what he even meant.
Shaking his head, he allowed his arms to transform into gauntlets of red scales and black claws, clenching his fists while some scales formed around his neck and up the sides of his face. "Not at all; if you trust me, you'll use them to help everyone, but you have to promise me not to fight them after tonight; I know it's terrifying, but if you really want to protect the people you care about too, then you can't run away from them,"
Now Ciana became worried for herself, every time she sees her change and even feels it she can't help but have a panic attack… but she does want to pull herself together to avoid freaking out, Ciana nodded slowly but looked pretty scared of this. "I-I'll try… this is something I'm really not using to having, I just hope I don't lose my humanity the more I use this side…"
"You won't, gotta trust me," He offered a smile again to calm her. "Transform like me, that's the first step, from what I've heard yours isn't a 'curse' so you have a semi-transformation, so that's a great for me, means I don't need to transform fully, just mimic my look,"
"Uh… o-okay… I-I'll t-try…" Ciana was very uncomfortable with this, staring at her hands for a moment. Ciana took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she activates her power, a bright glow was emitting from her body and the scales were starting to appear on her arms and neck, her nails slowly grew and the horns formed at the side of her head… her hair even changed color again to bright yellow.
Feeling the fangs come in… that's when she begun to shake up, not daring to open her eyes to see herself…
"That's awesome, you got this! Don't let it eat you up!" Kirishima encouraged. "You are not its prey! This power's all yours now, doesn't matter how you got it or why, fight it, use it to save others, protect people, no matter what!"
He sounds a lot like how Izuku encouraged her… but knew he was right, this is something she can use to protect others if she just keep it together… taking another deep breath, Ciana glows a bit more brighter that had the scales appear more. Her eyes were still closed, feeling too nervous to open her eyes to see how more beastly she became…
"Can you feel it? Sense everything around you, smell the faint smoke in the air, hear Kyoka's song from here, feel the air touch your skin gently, even taste the magic floating around us," Kirishima was quieter this time. "All of this is what you can do, it's yours to control, all of it, expand your senses, don't hold anything back; you can do this!"
Ciana clenched her fists as she kept trying to keep herself under control, she was still trembling a bit as she tried to focus on all that and not how she looks. "I'm still me… I'm still me… I-I'm still me!" Is a mantra she kept repeating to herself, Ciana managed to crack an eye open nervously. Even her pupils turned more animal like. "H-how creepy do I look right now…?" Ciana asked in a shaken manner.
"You look perfectly fine; it's crazy how similar our powers are, but that's it, take in the sight of everything around you," Kirishima offered, stepping to the side for her to see the moon in all its glory. "You have nothing to fear, relax your muscles, just let all that pent up energy out - better yet, roar just like a dragon if you want! Let out all that bottled up anger like I did like a breath of fire!" Then he chuckled, scratching under his nose. "That's up to you, whatever works best!"
"You make my form sound more like a lion then a dragon…" She ends up chuckling, managing to relax a bit due to Kirishimas playful and positive nature. "I-I'm not sure if I'm the roaring type… sounds strange for me to imagine myself doing." Dragons always looked cool when they roar but for her it be… pretty unlady like.
"Totally fine! Then try releasing some of that energy! To really be one with your other half, you can't hold it back, this place is barren so let loose!" Kirishima put two thumbs up, then snapped his fingers to fire a bolt of flames. "Like this for example, hah!"
With a smug grin, he spat several flames into the air, juggling them with his tail as it manifested in a flash of bright red. Swatting them into the sky, he performed a bit of a dance, flicking them up into the air before letting them burst in the sky in a fall of embers. The redhead chuckled to himself, enjoying his own performance with a carefree spirit. His passion wasn't hindered by his curse, nor did he spare an ounce of fear or hesitation to his power, he laughed like always.
Ciana was pretty surprised by the sudden performance but this made her laugh at his carefree nature, clapping her hands at the entertaining display. "Wow! You look more like a street performer! You definitely had a lot of practice." Ciana giggled more, bringing her bright smile to her face. "I'm not sure if I can do anything like what you do, but whenever I sing I also turn into a dragon. But also have these light orbs floating around me if that counts?" She shares while picking at her cheek shyly.
"That's it, do that, sing if that helps!" With some encouragement, Kirishima stopped to look at her.
"Huh?" That came out as a bit of a surprise to her, blinking and then blushing pink more shyly. "Y-you want me to sing? B-but, uh…" well she is already in dragon mode, but was afraid it would evolve her dragon form more. "W-what if it furthers my appearance and instincts…?"
"Exactly why now's you chance to overcome that," Relaxing a bit, the redhead patted her bicep. "You really like singing, right?" She gave a nervous nod. "Then don't let this hinder what you love. Confront it all the same, you've done a lot already, so I know you can do this!"
Ciana thought this over, it has always been her passion since her mother expressed her own songs to her… it even helped calmed her nerves when she was feeling sad or scared. Ciana remembered her mom telling her to express how she felt in a song… which is another way to relive stress, thinking it over further… Ciana expression looked a bit more serious as she then nodded. "Alright…" Thinking about everything that's happened to her… Ciana took a deep breath and placed her hands over her heart, she closed her eyes as she expressed her inner feelings…
~I am made for only one purpose, I had always known I'm worthless. Just a trophy from a mission well done nothing more…~ Ciana remembered back when she thought she wasn't anything special, then came to when she inherit her power to be used for evil. ~I could try my luck and escape, To anywhere away from this place. But all the sins I committed cannot be ignored…~
She got scared and ran away… knowing she left her friends behind and possibly caused heartbreak and pain… Ciana knew she also has a lot to make up for…
Kirishima stared in wonder at her performance, the pain behind her tone and words, but also that strength and resolve rising in her tensed features. Her aura began to shift too, now it was a steady radiance around her body. Her scales hardened in long patches across her arms to the sides of her neck and to her cheeks. But she kept her eyes facing forward, staring from the world around her to the moon and stars as motes of light gathered at her words. Ciana looked to her hands, closing them tightly to shun her fears as she sang louder.
~Time moves forward! Time goes on, It does not yield. So I must stay strong!~ Ciana had to overcome this no matter what, but deep down she was still scared… but is trying to remain strong. ~I'll find a reason, To see the sun! Rise one more day, just before I'm done!~ Ciana wasn't sure if she will survive this but she didn't want to give up and lose herself. ~No matter how hard I try I can't change the monster that I wasaaaaaaaas!~
Her eyes teared up at that part, remembering how she behaved when Izuku was pinned down by the hero killer.
~Even if I happen to find I'm fighting for a better caaaaauuuuuussssee!~ Ciana didn't want to use her power for evil, but be a hero like all her friends. ~I've known since long ago that soon I will reach the end of my roooooooaaaaad! So till my time has come I'll just keep roughing it up like a rooooooooggguuuue!~ Ciana paused her voice now, panting a little in exhaustion from how she expressed her feeling in that song… blushing a little embarrassed how much she let out.
"That... was so... manly!" Kirishima was tearing up, hand to his chest. "It felt like it was touching my soul!" Sniffing, he wiped his eyes dry with a proud smile. "We're not done, one more step, you up for it or do you need a minute?"
Ciana blushed more shyly, she was still kinda stage fright but didn't expect Kirishima would get emotional from her voice, then again… he did back when she sang at the sports festival… chuckling at the memory. "I-I think I got everything out." She rubs her neck while still smiling. "G-glad I was able to provide a good show, s-so what else are we doing?"
"Time to fly like a dragon, of course! When we're up there, relax, and it'll make sense," In a bright flash, now a powerful beast stood before her, lowering its head for Ciana to take her place between his horns.
Grabbing on tight, Ciana was whisked away into the night sky by Kirishima as he took flight over Black Talon and Stoneveil, the wind was calm as now he flew with a gentle beat of his wings, gliding so that Ciana could sit between his horns. She stared forward with her draconic eyes, to the moon far bigger now that they flew high to greet it. Even the twinkling lights of the town below mirrored by the stars. Inside her, her heart felt calm, the wind barely phased her.
Ciana wasn't sure why this lesson was about but staring at the sight from above was beautiful, seeing the sight of the village and the landscape was so breathtaking… it had her smile at the sight, it's like she was dreaming. "Eijiro… this is amazing, I don't think I ever seen as sight as magnificent as this…"
The red dragon snorted in joy, flying over a forest further down the mountain, what would take minutes he did so in seconds with a slight pivot of his wings. Ciana looked back at his large, strong limbs sway and change course to lift them up again. Without thinking much of it, she extended her arms to catch the wind herself, chuckling a bit as she turned left a bit, and to her surprise, Kirishima followed. Smiling down at him, she adjusted her gaze to the sky, waving her arms down, he flew higher as she turned right this time, causing him to spin in a wide circle, a laugh escaping her before leveling out again.
Motes of aura danced behind her, leaving a trail of lights as she directed Kirishima. They pulled up into a loop, so Ciana clenched with her legs to hold herself to his neck, yelling with excitement at their hang-time before Kirishima completely the loop, roaring in amusement, flying toward the village up high again.
Ciana not only laughed with joy from the fun ride she was experiencing but the cute way Ejiro was so perky, he looked pretty adorable himself even for a big ferocious dragon. "Izuku might have some competition now…" she thinks to herself with a chuckle just comparing both their adorableness, her arms now in the air as Kirishima flew. This is a dream fantasy come true!
Going in for a landing on the ridge after a few more minutes in flight. Ciana's legs trembled with adrenaline as Kirishima slowly turned back to normal as she was giddy with excitement, even in her own drake form. "How was that?" He chuckled with her. "Now you know how it feels to fly like a dragon, haha!"
"That was incredible!" The girl beamed with her arms in the air again, forgetting she was still in dragon form at the moment as she kept laughing and felt so alive after that ride. "I mean I never thought about flying before but ether way it was so exciting!" Ciana clapped her hands together with a big smile on her face. "Though compared to you I don't have wings, I'm not even sure what kind of dragon I even am… say! Do you shift your forms too depending on the environment?" She now asks with curious eyes.
"Hm, no; just your everyday fire breathing dragon," With a thumbs up, he grinned ear to ear. "But that would be so cool. Changing to different dragons when I need it! Still, how do you feel? Much less stressful when you just let it all out, right?"
"That sure did help forget my fears I admit…" she nodded with a smile, grateful for all his help so far. "I feel more better from how I was feeling at the start, I don't think I can thank you enough for your help…"
"The more you use your power, the easier it gets, then you'll just transform one bit at a time without much thought, it'll just come to you when you need it most," To show, his body was completely human again. And as he spoke, Ciana's own draconic features faded at a slower pace but she seemed oblivious to it. "Guess she has more control than she realized," He thought. Then he spoke with a friendly smile. "Your friends will be proud when they see you, both here and where you come from, I know it!"
"That is if they aren't mad at me for taking off…" Ciana rubs the back of her head anxiously at the thought. "I took off without much of a goodbye… who knows how they react when they see me again…"
"Worried, I bet," He replied, patting her shoulder with a squeeze. "But that shows they care a lot, like how you'd feel if one of them ran without saying anything, what matters is that you'll come back to them, and stronger too; no more running, right?" Then his fist waited for hers.
She smiled again a little. "Right, at least I hope I'll be able to pull through better when the times comes." Ciana fist bumps her friend with more confidence. "Plus that was a good practice for you too for a nice date with someone special." Ciana teases the dragon boy with a giggle after that.
"Y-you think so? I guess I do owe h-her, haha..." He laughed while rubbing his nape. Grinning toward the moon. "Yeah, I'll definitely make it up to her... wherever she is," Turning back to Ciana, there was one final test he wanted to try. "Now, with all that training, sorry in advance - think fast!"
Without much else of a warning, Ciana saw his scaly fist travelling toward her body. She stumbled back, then raised her forearm to block it from striking her face. She heard the slap of skin, wincing as she blinked slowly. His fist lay firmly in her palm, the back of her hand coated in golden-white scales with black claws, keeping a firm grip. Looking to the redhead, she saw him grin, he expected her to react on instinct and catch his feint.
"Guess you're nearly at my level, sweet!" Pulling his hand back, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I had to see if you'd react on your instincts, I wasn't going to hit you but I had to make you believe it, again, really sorry,"
"Yeah, ever heard the rule about not hitting a girl…?" She playfully remarked with her hands on her hips, definitely not expecting the sudden attack. "You've been spending too much time with Katsuki… figured you pick up some gentlemanly manners from Kaminari." She giggles, at least not mad at the dragon boy.
"Then again… he can be a perv at times… but usually not as bad as Mineta…" Ciana had her hand on her chin as she looked up, recalling the pervy duo in UA, now eyeing Kirishima again with another curious look. "Say, ever met a weird little guy by the name of Mineta by any chance?" Those two were pretty close in UA so they had to know each other here too right? Or did they not meet yet? It was surprising enough that he was hanging around Katsuki when he usually scares him at times…
"Don't think so, just Katsuki and Kaminari, and I guess people that got frightened by me when I was still a dragon," Kirishima replied as he watched Ciana flick her hand, dispelling her scales and claws. "Anyway, ready to head back? I think you've got everything I could think of nailed down!"
"Why not, best to get rested up when we find the source of those annoying vines." She continues to smile as Ciana felt a little more better about herself. "Think Katsuki will worry since you been out for quite a while with me?" She asked teasingly knowing that guy.
"Nah, he's a great guy deep down but 'caring' isn't really something he does on the outside," Kirishima chuckled alongside her on their way back. "I mean, he's friends with me and Denki, he never says it, but I think he really appreciates our company. I think he's been isolated on this mountain for a long time as well."
"It's a little surprising since he's the kind of guy that works by himself." She chuckled a bit knowing his immature behavior. "But I could tell he's got a heart behind that snarl of his." Hands go behind her back now as they walk. "He seemed like he was getting along alright with the others in his own blunt way… though I worry how he's gonna challenge Izuku seeing that sword of his…"
"I wouldn't worry. He's always wanting to prove he's stronger, he did so when he met me, I think our fight was what brought me back to my senses, his grit and passion for fighting resonated with me I guess is the right word," He admitted, clenching his fist with a fiery gaze. "I'll beat him someday, hopefully, in a fight that doesn't last half a day,"
"Oh god… if that's the case then if Bakugo finds out my power evolved more then he's definitely gonna want to kill me…" Ciana mumbled, shivering imagining the way he will challenge her more. "I'm so dead…" The idea was scary knowing him… especially remembering how he fought both Izuku and Uraraka.
"Their rivalry might get more out of hand than you think…" Izuku's sword is All Mights and the kind of power he had that's what drove Bakugo crazy enough to want to fight Izuku.
"Hey, give our pal Izuku some credit, he can hold his own, with how they worked together today, even if they didn't notice it, I'm sure things will work out," Giving a confident smile, he pointed at the gate. "Hey, isn't that Kiara?"
In the shadow of the gatehouse, the demon girl seemed absentminded as she toyed with something shiny between her fingers. She didn't look happy either, her ember eyes shaken with worry at the object in her hand, seeing through the dark, Ciana swore it looked familiar, made of silver too...
Ciana held her hands up over her eyes to try and get a better view in a distance. "That is her… that's strange, what's she doing out here at this time?" Sensing her emotions, she seemed bothered too. "She looks upset about something too… maybe I should talk to her, you wanna just go ahead in and rest up?" She asked Kirishima with her gaze back on him.
"Sure thing, we're staying at the inn anyways, night!" He waved to her, moving past Kiara who gave a nod to him.
"Night," Ciana replied back as they approached the girl standing by.
Once the redhead was gone from view, Kiara flicked a match across the wall, causing it to light as she put it into a brazier to the side of the gateway. Now, both were visible under the flames. The flicker and pop of the brazier subdued the silence as Ciana finally caught eye on what Kiara held. A silver coin, a gatestone. "You dropped this, during the battle," She flicked it back to Ciana who clumsily caught it.
Taking back hold of it, Ciana was stunned she had dropped something as important as that and shes usually careful with her stuff. "Oh thanks so much!" Ciana gave a smile and nod of thanks before placing it back in her pouch, she didn't know Kirara would hold onto it for her. "Are you alright? You look kinda upset… is everything okay?" Ciana asked, her expression becoming concerned for the girl.
"You've travelled a lot farther than I expected, between realms; and from what I've seen, you're definitely not from a world with magic, that strange thing you told Izuku about, that has those paintings in it, that's leagues beyond magic," She said so casually, Kiara had caught on quickly. "But not only that, you trust a Nightmare of all things? Really?"
"What?" Ciana was very surprised what she brought up, blinking to process her words she told her. "Hold on… what did Izuku exactly tell you about my situation?" Izuku has become more open with Kiara, she wasn't sure what they discussed but she felt a little insulted he didn't ask to mention this kind of thing.
"Nothing, told you, I don't pry, but the last time I saw one of those-" She pointed her tail at the coin. "-a Nightmare had one... and I've never seen devastation like it, even a dragon couldn't do what it did..." Letting out a trembling breath, she gave Ciana a firm look. "If I'm right, tell me, what did it look like? It's eye colour, appearance, every detail,"
Ciana was kinda stunned she have something against the nightmare thing, especially when they seemed really nice, Ciana placed her hand on her chin to recall the details they had. "Um… I think her body was pitch-black while her skin sported white lines from the sides of her neck, down her arms, legs, and sides, the backs of her palms fixed with the an organic speaker. White energy spurted from her shoulder blades and calves roughly a few inches out."
Now looking back at the girl as she tilted her head in a curious manner. "Why? Did they do something to have you resent them?"
Kiara sighed with relief. "Okay... not the one I know of; I've heard stories of them most are realm walkers, some more legend than others. But the one I've seen, it... I don't know what to believe," She ran a hand through her hair, then down her right horn. "It slaughtered a town from my country, but it didn't just kill them, no, it used their corpses, dragged the remnants of their souls back to kill the rest. And when it was over? I froze everything, it just... s-smiled at me, and left, using one of those coins," The terror in her tone was unlike anything Ciana had heard before. As if seeing this creature again would kill her on the spot.
Ciana gasped when she heard this gruesome attack, her hand hovering over her mouth in shock. Ciana wasn't sure what to see as she stared at her for a moment. "Kiara…" that sounded horrifying for her to even go through… she could understand a bit what that is like. "I know how that feels… to be so scared, fearing the kind of person who would do awful things…"
Ciana was very terrified of Meru Zena at first, there were days she was afraid to sleep all alone. "Have you… talked to Izuku about all that?"
"No... I..." She smiled but it was clearly forced as she leaned against the wall. "Knowing him, he'd ask about... my life... before I met Kyoka, Mom, and Dad, I guess, I dunno, I'm... scared?" With a shrug, she started to bite her cheek. "Scared that if he knew it won't just be, 'the upbeat and peppy bard' to him anymore,"
She stood forward, waving her arms wide as she spun around on her heel, coming to stop as she eyed Ciana. "So here I am, hiding from him by using you as my distraction, aren't I the best?" But Kiara's face fell again. "Can't even drink to forget with everything going on..."
"It's not good to touch that stuff under our age anyways…" Ciana smiled a little sheepishly before it turned more warm. "Kiara, you should be honest and open with Izuku more. He won't judge you no matter who you are or where you came from, believe it or not he's been very comforting to me even when knowing how dangerous my dragon side can be sometimes…"
Ciana is still grateful to this Izuku for all he's doing for her, knowing she has a lot to owe him for. "I promise if you do then you'll feel a whole lot better."
"Am I that obvious?" She chuckled, looking around. "And I'll have you know, drinking age in my country's far more lax than it is here, about the only thing I could wish for right now; but, uh, thanks, normally, I'd just have Kyoka stab me with her jacks to get me out of this state so 'talking' is a refreshing change of pace,"
"Definitely a lot better than keeping it all in or else you'll end up like me…" she chuckled, glad to have lightened the mood a bit. "Though if I know Izuku by now… he's probably in there worrying about you, if he cares for you that much then I'm sure he want to be here for you too. Unless he's being interrogated by Katsuki right now…" she sweat-dropped and eyed the door in a bit of worry of that possibility, at least he isn't burning the place down…
Kiara laughed at that, "Yeah, probably..." Now, the pair were walking back to the inn, Kiara putting her hands behind her head. "Y'know, whoever you're thinkin' of since you got to this realm, must be real important to you too; now the significance of you wanting to run to learn to control your 'curse' really makes sense," Nudging the raven-brunette's shoulder with her tail, she added. "Hey, when you do get control, go back to him, don't worry about us so much, I think what you've done so far has been more than any of us could repay,"
"I mean seeing how all of you are together I can see you'll do just fine without me…" Ciana was happy to have still been by her counterpart friends side as it felt almost like destiny. "I might go back once we find whose the cause of these troublesome vines, I feel I should aid you all there first before taking off."
The Izuku here will be just fine without her since he has Kiara, since he's almost with all his friends again he will be just fine pursuing his dreams.
Stopping at their turn off between the inn and Kiara's home, the demon girl raised her fist between them. "Then let's do it, all the way to the end, Dragon," She winked at that last part.
"Huh?" Ciana blinked in confusion at that last part but it was still enough to make her chuckle, fist bumping her knuckle with a confident smile now. "All for One and One for All!" Ciana cheered, knowing they are strong when standing together.
"Hey, yeah," She smirked back, a spark in their eyes as they turned to part ways for the night.
Author note:
Song | Daybreak- An Original Dungeons and Dragons Inspired song - /Fq4MoUMKOTE?si=LnFfrV9SP_jFljPp