Dragon Slayer

Sixteen

"You LOST him?!" Mina shrieked when Katsuki told them what had happened.
"I didn't lose him! He ran away!"
"But you don't know where he is, which means he's lost."
"He's not lost!" Katsuki insisted. "He'll come back."
"Are you sure? Because the last time he did this, he didn't come back until Mina drug him back."
"He's done this before?"
"Yeah. When he found out his mom died he ran off. We didn't find him for a few weeks." Hanta explained.
"That long?" Katsuki paced across the tavern floor. "What does he do when he's like that?"
Mina shrugged. "Some weird dragon thing. It's hard to explain."
"And where did you find him?"
"In the woods somewhere."
"Great. That narrows it down." Katsuki sighed.
"You're not really going after him, are you?" Kyouka interrupted. "He's mad at you."
"What did he get mad at you about, anyway?" Denki wondered.
Katsuki held his breath, hoping that somebody would laugh and tell the bard to shut up like they normally did.
But none of that came. He was going to have to explain himself.
"I'm...a dragon slayer."
"What?!" Mina gasped. "You kill dragons?! Were you going to kill Kiri?!"
"No!" Katsuki insisted. "I mean...I was...until I learned it was him..." He felt tears forming in his eyes and blinked them away. Something in the air at the potions shop must have gotten in his lungs and made him emotional.
"Did you...did you kill Ryuku?" Hanta asked, voice slightly shaky, nervous.
"How did you guess?"
"He said you guys met that day...and then Ryuku was killed...and you're a dragon slayer..." The raven haired boy shrugged. "I just pieced it together."
"It's not like I knew any different. I just did what my parents told me to. I was a CHILD!" Katsuki's breath hitched.
"Did you tell him that?" Mina wondered.
"The idiot didn't give me a chance."
"Why don't you rest up here for the night and get a head start on looking for him in the morning," Denki offered. "We can go with you."
"No. I'll go on my own. I need to be alone with him."
"Katsuki..." Mina shook her head. "I think it would be better if-"
"I'm going alone. If I can't win him over, I'll at least send him back here."
"You're so eager to get him back." Mina pointed out.
"Well, this is where he fucking belongs, isn't it? Not alone in the wild somewhere, under a tree." Katsuki rolled his watery eyes. "I'm going to get him. You morons stay back and wait."
"Are you absolutely sure you don't need help?" Hanta asked.
"Of course not. When have I ever had help before?"
The others didn't answer. He was glad they didn't. It have him a chance to huff and walk out of the tavern.
Mina followed after him, to his dismay.
"Wait!"
"What?"
She reached into her satchel, removing a potion bottle and placing it in Katsuki's hands. "Take this. It helped me last time."
"Fine." Katsuki took the bottle and tossed it into his bag.
"Be careful. Good luck."
"Thanks." Katsuki grunted even though he knew he wouldn't need it.
He knew exactly where Kirishima had gone.
The real trouble was getting there on time.