Caring for a Dragon

Part Five

          Kirishima woke up first. He was almost burning underneath all the blankets. He stretched his arms and looked around. Once he felt like he fully woke up, he got up and changed his ripped clothes into a different outfit. He put on a simple outfit in case he ends up ripping this one. As he put on his clothes, he was getting a good look at the thousands of tattoos that scattered along his body. After changing, Kirishima walked out of his room and closed the door. He could hear Bakugou's quiet snores.
          Bakugou was out cold on his bed. He still had his shoes on and didn't bother closing the door to his room. Kirishima walked over and noticed the bags under his eyes. He must have been worrying about Kirishima a lot. Bakugou always worried about Kirishima, even when it came to the littlest things. All Kirishima has done in return is turn the situation way worse. Kirishima quickly went to his room and picked up one of the spare blankets. He tossed it on top of Bakugou.
          Bakugou always looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Any time his eyes were open, he always carried a slight scowl and came off rude to everyone. When he's asleep, the scowl was gone, and looked like he couldn't hurt a fly. Kirishima was glad that he was able to see the nicer side of Bakugou. He practically shouted at everyone but treated Kirishima like they were equals. Even when Kirishima blamed himself for something, Bakugou would remind him that it wasn't him.
          Kirishima walked out of Bakugou's room and walked to the kitchen. Bakugou and he need to chart a course to some sort of market. They don't have that much food left. Kirishima simply grabbed a small loaf of bread and a block of cheese. He used the knife Bakugou made him, many winters ago, to cut the cheese and bread into slices. Kirishima wasn't a fan of eating alone but knew Bakugou needed to rest. He probably didn't get any sleep last night. 
          As Kirishima finished his second combo of bread and cheese, he heard a knock above the stairs. Kirishima, a little on edge, gripped his knife ready for a fight.
          "Hello?"
          Kirishima let out a sigh as he recognized the voice as Mina. "You can come down!"
          Mina soon came down the stairs with a slightly worried look. She stopped at the last step and spotted Kirishima. She slowly walked over to the table he was sitting at.
          "How are you feeling?"
          Kirishima shrugged as he placed the knife on the table. "Honestly, I have no idea. There is so much to unravel all at once to truly figure it out."
          Mina nodded her head as she started twiddling with her fingers.
          Kirishima looked up at her as guilt filled him. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Mina. I didn't mean to ... be a jerk towards you. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I'm actually cursed."
          Mina smiled. "It's okay, Kiri. I just thought you might be mad at us."
          "I'd never be mad at you, Mina. You're my friend."
          Mina chuckled and then looked around. "How come Bakugou doesn't want anyone to come inside? Even when you'd visit the village, he refused everyone who wanted to board."
         "It's our home," Kirishima explained. "We've grown up on this machine. It was just ours, so Bakugou may be acting possessive with it."
         "That's not the only thing," Mina whispered under her breath.
         Kirishima looked at her confused. "What did you say?"
          "Nothing," Mina smiled. "Uraraka is awake and ready to see you guys. She knows how to disarm the curse."
          Kirishima looked down at his arms. The sleeves of his shirts covered them up, but he could feel them still there. "Right," He said slowly rubbing his arm. He was still in shock about the whole thing. He didn't know how he should feel about it.
          Mina walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Don't stress over it, Kiri. We'll get this curse disarmed before you know it." She said with a kind smile.
          Kirishima returned the smile and nodded his head. "Yeah," He said tiredly. "I just still need time to process what's happening to me."
          Mina wanted to comfort her best friend but knew that it was going to take some time to understand the situation. Not everyone gets cursed or even comes in contact with a witch which can cause a curse. Mina patted his shoulder and walked out of the balloon. 
          Kirishima lost his appetite so he simply sat back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. There were thousands of indentations from Bakugou throwing his knife up and catching it as it fell. As a kid, Bakugou did that to see if his blade was sharp enough. Now he does it as a sort of hobby. Kirishima always smiled at them because they reminded him of the stars. Some of them even made constellations.
          Bakugou walked out of his room with a yawn and a stretch. He looked around and noticed Kirishima sitting on the couch by the table. Bread and cheese were sitting on top. Kirishima didn't seem like he was eating any of it. He was just looking at the ceiling lost in his thoughts. Bakugou rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath.
          Bakugou walked over to Kirishima. "You need to eat, shitty hair," Bakugou said in his usual annoyed voice. "You were out for quite some time. You want me to get you some water?"
          Kirishima kept his gaze on the ceiling. "No thanks. I ... I'm good. I ate some and got full."
          Bakugou gave him the side-eye. "Says the guy who can fucking chow anything down without getting a stomach ache." Bakugou walked around the table and sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"
          Kirishima rubbed at his arms again still keeping his gaze on the ceiling. His face only said fear and confusion. Those movements answered Bakugou's questions for him. 
          "Did one of those witches come by?"
          Kirishima nodded his head. "It was Mina. She came to tell us that Uraraka was awake."
          That was the first bit of good news he heard all day but made sure not to show his excitement around Kirishima. He couldn't imagine everything that Kirishima had to process. After growing up and people accusing him of being cursed, now he's cursed. This gives Bakugou more of a reason to help his best friend.
          Bakugou stood up. He looked down at Kirishima. "Do you want to come with me?"
          Kirishima looked over at Bakugou with a confused expression. "Where?"
          "To the cabin," Bakugou explained. "To see Uraraka. We need to get this stupid ass curse off of you. The sooner the better."
          Kirishima lifted his knees and hugged them close to his chest. He rested his chin on his arms as he thought for a moment. "C-Can I stay here? I'll go if I need to, but ..."
          Bakugou leaned against the table and placed a hand over one of Kirishima's shoulders. "It was not your fault Kirishima. Stop blaming yourself. I'm the one to blame in this situation."
          "What?" Kirishima asked.
          Bakugou sighed. "If I paid more attention to the fight, I would have known that the witch wasn't out. I was too focused on the fact that you got hurt that I dropped my guard and stopped protecting you the second you were in my arms."
          "Let's make a promise," Kirishima said with a slight smile. "A promise to not blame ourselves for what happened." Kirishima lifted out his hand and stuck out his pinky finger.
          Bakugou glared down at Kirishima's hand and then back up at Kirishima's face. "Seriously. This is for children."
          Kirishima chuckled. "Come on, like old times at least."
          Bakugou's cheeks turned a light shade of red. He was honestly glad to see his friend genuinely smile after everything that had gone down. Bakugou loved seeing his smile. Bakugou quickly shook his head, trying to clear any more thoughts about things he loved about Kirishima. He simply raised his pinky finger and interlocked it with Kirishima.
          Kirishima's grin widened, showing off his sharp teeth. "Thanks, bro!"
          Bakugou rolled his eyes as his cheeks turned redder. "Whatever. Are you coming inside or not?"
          "I'm going to stay here," Kirishima said as he wrapped his arm around his knees again. "I know there's going to be bad news 'cause there always is. I'd rather hear it from you than them. I just want to adjust to what's happening first before hearing the bad news."
          Bakugou nodded his head. "You got it."
          A sad look came on Kirishima's face as he looked down. "I'm not blaming myself like we just promised, but ... can you tell Uraraka I'm sorry? And make sure she's truly okay after what happened?"
          Bakugou nodded his head again, admiring Kirishima's big heart. "I will. She's the top witch here. I'm sure she did a good job protecting herself. She might have just passed out from using too much magic."
          Kirishima looked up at him. "That's a thing? I've never seen you pass out for using too much of your magic."
          Bakugou turned his head to look away. "Mine's different." He said in a serious tone.
          Kirishima knew that tone. It was a way of warning Kirishima that it was a topic that Bakugou didn't want to talk about so he gave a vague explanation. It bugged Kirishima, he wanted to ask questions about it. There were still many secrets with Bakugou that he wanted to learn. Kirishima shared everything about him with Bakugou, but he also knew that Bakugou wasn't the sharing type.
           "Will you be able to tell me later?" He asked, trying to see if Bakugou would at least tell him at some point. "It doesn't have to be today."
           Bakugou kept looking at the wall thinking for a moment. "Maybe." With that Bakugou walked towards the stairs and disappeared from Kirishima's sight. 
           Kirishima rested his head on his arms as he thought more about what Bakugou said. Bakugou didn't have much magic in him. He only had enough to make explosions come from his hands. He couldn't do any other sort of magic like healing or moving things with his mind. Kirishima forgot that it was magic because of his ability. Of course, his ability changed him physically which not many wizards or witches can do with magic. The only way of doing that for them was by giving someone a curse to change them.
           As Kirishima thought, he remembered his ability. He wondered if he still had it. He wanted to test and see if he still had it but was scared that he might turn into a dragon and destroy the place. Scared that he'd go on a rampage again. Scared that he'd hurt the ones around him. He didn't think he could handle it if he hurt someone.
           An idea popped inside Kirishima's head. Maybe if I walk far enough away, I can test. If he does go on a rampage again, it'll be away from everyone. Bakugou will have enough time to help him change back without getting hurt since he helped Kirishima before. He also knew that Bakuogu would be seriously pissed off at him if he did this without permission.
           Kirishima sighed as he sat there. He wanted something good to come out of what happened. If Kirishima could learn to control this curse, he could help out more. There aren't any real dragons in this area so he won't have much competition. Also, he's now a dragon! He is one of the largest creatures in the world. Kirishima couldn't overlook that Bakugou would be pissed. Maybe they can talk about it when Bakugou comes back.
          Kirishima got up and started putting the food away. He hated the fact that he'd have to wait for anything but knew it would be the best option. Kirishima knew that the talk would be a bit, so the idea of him testing out his curse seemed more and more of a good idea. He just needs to convince himself more that this curse can be helpful. He'll also need to convince Bakugou as well. That'll be the actual hard part.