Dragon Slayer

Eighteen

When Eijirou's life came into focus everything was warm. He was under a blanket, or something like that, and he could feel the heat of warming bricks beneath him.
It felt like he was in a little oven, which would explain why he was awake from his hibernation. The weight of the blankets over him welcomed him back into the world in the most pleasant of ways.
He opened his eyes to darkness. The blankets were even covering his head.
Somebody knew what they were doing.
The dragon slowly pushed the blankets off his head, swallowing when he realized where he was.
Home.
Everything was in its place, save a few books. They had moved a little.
And then there was the chair in the corner of the room. It had moved beside the bed and Katsuki was sleeping in it, his hand limply holding one of the books from the floor, index finger crammed between the pages that he had been reading from.
He looked exhausted, like he had been trying to stay awake for three days straight. Eijirou tried not to feel bad for him, he had killed his mother after all, but he just looked so sad.
The blonde shifted and the book fell to the floor, startling him awake before Eijirou could duck under the covers and pretend to sleep.
"You're awake..." He sputtered, the book suddenly off his mind. "Finally..."
"How long was I out?" Eijirou asked, nervous.
"Dunno. I found you four days after you left and took three days to get back. That was two days ago."
"So I've been out for seven days..." Eijirou calculated. "Why are you here? Why did you bother to save me?"
"You didn't give me a chance to apologize." Katsuki said, voice slightly pouty.
"Why should I?"
"Because I rarely apologize for shit. This MEANS something. It's a big deal for me."
"Okay. Fine. I'll hear you out. But as soon as you're done, you have to leave. Leave and never come back."
"It's a deal." Katsuki didn't even hesitate. Maybe he really DID want to apologize and leave, but Eijirou kind of hoped that the reason he was okay with parting ways was because he respected the redheads boundaries.
"Ei...I'm sorry. I know there's no way to bring your mom back, and I'm the reason for it, but I was a kid. I had never met a single person who didn't think dragons were bad. I didn't know any different. Do I wish I had been born into a less fucked up family? Fuck yeah I do. I wish I had never been forced into dragon hunting."
Eijirou swallowed. Katsuki looked like he was about to cry, which was something Ei didn't think he could do.
"Ei...I'm glad I met you. You made me see things in a better way. And I promise...no matter what...I'll never hurt another dragon again. Not even a bad one."
"What will you do?" Eijirou asked before he could stop his tongue.
"Dunno. But you shouldn't worry about it. I'll find something I'm good at."
Eijirou nodded softly.
"So...anyway...I'll get out of your hair..."
"You...don't have to...if you don't wanna..."
"Huh?"
"I mean...from the sounds of it...you just delivered the killing blow...your mom and dad did the rest."
"Yeah. But I still-"
"Tell me something," Eijirou took a deep breath. "If you hadn't been there, would my mother still be alive?"
"No. They were prepared to take her on their own."
"I'll forgive you, then. You can stay here, too...maybe help Mina at the Blacksmith. You'd be good at that, I think..."
"Really?"
"Yeah..."
Katsuki smiled the most relieved smile. He looked like the sun. "Thank you."
"There isn't a spare room here, but we can maybe clear you a spot somewhere." Katsuki I brainstormed.
"Uh...Ei...can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
Katsuki took a deep breath. "About...what we talked about...before I told you I was a dragon slayer..."
"Hm?"
"Why did you kiss me?"

One more chapter and an epilogue left, folks.