Fates Entwined (A TodoBaku ff) ✔

LXI

They left in a solemn silence, the only sound the clinking of armour or the crunch of boots on snow. There was a cool breeze that followed, as if mother nature was gently guiding them along, clearing their path of any obstacles, brushing away stray branches. Shoto wondered if the Goddess was watching them, watching Shoto, reading his thoughts and judging his actions. It was both a weighty yet comforting thought, that such a powerful being, the saviour of their world, was watching over him and his friends. 

Shoto was walking at the front of the group with Katsuki and Kirishima. Mina, Denki, and Iida watched their left side, Momo and Jirou on their right, and Sero and Midoriya at the back. Hitoshi and Tokoyami were in the centre with their soldiers, both as a solid presence in the face of fear but to also protect their element of surprise should there be any lurking eyes watching them in the morning shadows of the forest. Though, with nothing but slim barren branches all around them, all that could be seen for miles was a valley of snow-dusted grass, the permafrost slowly melting under the sunbeams that trickled through the cloudy sky. They had left the closest village far behind, the evergreen trees hiding the people and their home from sight. 

There was little conversation during their journey, only short whispers or attempts at light conversation, jokes and laughs that died out on chapped lips. Shoto was thankful he was immune to cold weather, but for those such as the soldiers from Catalin who were more adapted for warmer weather, he was glad they had provided cloaks and woollen additions to keep the soldiers warm before the battle. Of course, once his father arrived and the battle began, there would be nothing but sizzling, scorching heat all around them, blazing them and suffocating every drop of air from their-

"You're clenching your jaw." Kirishima noted from his left. "If you keep doing that it'll get stuck." He tried to make a joke, his tone light yet tinted with inevitable uncertainty, eyes flickering between Shoto and the path ahead of them, the path that would lead to his father, to the future of Yuaria. 

"Sorry." He spoke quietly, watching his breath form a small cloud, vapour swirling and rising until it vanished.

"Don't apologise, idiot." Katsuki grunted from his right, one hand in a tight grip on the handle of his sword, red eyes shifting left and right surveying the deserted forest around them. It seemed even the winter creatures had scurried into their hiding places, sensing the dark shift in the air. 

"You should loosen up a bit too man, don't want to pull a muscle in battle." Kirishima gestured to the white-knuckled grip Katsuki had on his sword, the only hint in his otherwise composed appearance that he was any semblance of afraid. If this was all happening back when they had first met, Shoto most definitely would have believed the arrogant and selfish king to be incapable of something such as fear, that he would probably rush into battle with no ounce of consideration and slay Shoto's father or die trying. Now, when Shoto was beginning to learn all the intricacies of Katsuki Bakugou, of how his shoulders tensed when stressed, how he preferred black tea over green, how the roots of his hair were ever so slightly brown like his father's in contrast to the golden locks like his mother's, how he could calm Shoto down from his worst nightmares and hold him in a way that shielded him from the horrors both within and beyond his mind, Shoto knew that Katsuki was as human as the rest of them.

With another moment of consideration, he gently took Katsuki's hand in his own and pulled it away from his sword, intertwining their fingers just as he had the night before, his thumb slowly rubbing over the strained tendons on his wrist, a cool relief. Katsuki looked down for a moment, eyes narrowed and sharp, before looking back onto the path ahead with a grip tighter than Shoto's. Neither of them said anything, neither did Kirishima or those closest to them, and somehow the most important thing amidst all the chaos and fear ahead of them was keeping Katsuki's hand in his...