K.BAKUGO X READER (Cover art by me)
In a life where I'd be safe in one moment and on the brink of death in another, I realized that he was the only force that could ground me. Of all the people in the world. My volatile co-worker. My menacing rival...
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epilogue
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Da Vinci once said, "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
It was only a matter of time until we returned to the mountain again.
Well, at least that's how I tried to frame it.
"Why the hell'd you sign me up for this shit?"
With his hands in the semi-frozen dirt, Katsuki frowned over at me.
"I could be – I dunno – taking down the scum of the city or making visits to UA so I can actually help the dumb nerd with his 'hero revisionary' plan, but nooo – instead, I'm out here with those little rats!"
He glared and pointed at the squirrel sitting on its hind legs, watching us curiously from a frosty patch of grass.
"He's not harming you. Just leave the poor guy alone. He's probably hungry."
"His buddy almost blew me to shreds! Why're you siding with the enemy?!"
The grudge he still held was so ridiculous I laughed, dropping my shovel. "Once the forest grows back, they won't have any reason to bother you. It's only right for us to replace what was destroyed."
In the distance, Midoriya waved to us, a warning that we'd be heading back soon. The day was still young, but there was breakfast waiting for us at the camp. For a volunteer job, it was certainly cushy considering the conditions of the mountain – all thanks to funding from the hero association. They did their best to make it easy on us. But, even in the approaching warmth of spring, we were still dressed in layers of our thermal gear. I hadn't forgotten how harsh the winter had treated us months before.
Teleporting over and crouching next to the blonde idiot, I placed one of the saplings into the earth, burying it softly.
"Ya' think they'll grow this high on the mountain?"
"The others did before this little guy. If we plant enough of them, the strong ones will survive." Just as we had. Just as the Bakugo of my timeline had.
Once the rest of the saplings had been planted, we packed up and headed down the trail. We passed by patches of open air, bare of trees but full of the morning sky in rising colors. One with the clouds, passing freely, drifting through life and whatever came our way.
Katsuki stopped by the edge of the trail, his sash of grenades clinking against him. His face held a scar; a memory of our sacrifice stretching across his eye as he looked out at the rolling hills below, caught in the misty remains of dawn. With how peaceful this area was, the weapons almost seemed like toys he didn't want to part with. Remnants of that power-hungry child with a dream.
