Long Time Coming

I Am A Fool

It wasn't what he had expected.

He wasn't exactly sure what he'd been expecting among the wooden structures, asian greenery, koi ponds and zen gardens, but it wasn't to come upon a field of people fighting like death was the only response to loss. As he approached the dojo that was exactly what he had found. His parents stalled behind him as his bag slipped off his shoulder. He could feel his adrenaline rising in his chest, his steps bounced as his vision narrowed in on the battlefield. That was where he belonged. That was where he wanted to be.

The choruses of punches echoed by the gentle grunts and guttural yells as the fighters before him put their all into battling their opponents. Men and women; gender was lost in the white sand gently tinged pink and brown from spilt blood. It beckoned to him, calling like a siren's song. He felt himself drawn on the call of it, drunk at the prospect-

And then a blow to the sternum sent him reeling onto his ass, colliding hard on the wooden walkway. Before he could gather his senses the warriors stopped, forming lines and falling to their knees, bowing with their foreheads touching the dirt. Katsuki wanted to be repulsed by the humiliation of the act but the serene spirituality of the movement, the cleanliness, the crisp motions were almost seductive in their execution - drawing him in despite the lack of oxygen being dragged into his lungs.

"I did not give you permission to enter the field."

A dry voice rasped low.

"I don't ask permission." Katsuki growled low, rising to his knees, shaking off his mom's hand as she rushed to help him stand.

"You don't offer respect."

Katsuki growled, standing, vision clearing. "Who the fuck are you-" And realization hit him, his eyes snapped up taking in the anthropomorphic figure before him, the banded eyes, striped fluffy tail. "T-Tanuki!"

"Yeah you little shit." The white tipped muzzle parted, sharp needle teeth snapped in a grin as he leaned down, red fur mottled with grey. "Now bow and apologize to your mother. She taught you to use a goddamned spoon - the simplest of human tools. She wiped your ass for you for years. Be respectful."

Bristling and unbalanced Katsuki turned, tilting his head, "Sorry."

Mitsuki looked to her husband, both at a loss on how to handle the situation.

"H-he's always been-"

"No." Tanuki pulled himself straight, still not quite reaching Katsuki's eyebrows. "He wasn't always like this." He side eyed the blond boy beside him. "Ignorance, pride, and self-loathing has turned him into a creature he doesn't recognize." He took a deep breath, chest expanding deeply exposing more fur covering a humanoid chest under the kimono. "When the spirit and the host aren't in line they do awful things to themselves and the people they love." He turned back to the Bakugou's. "I can feel the darkness around him; inside of him. His depression, his anger. It's leaching out. He'll never be a great hero this way-"

The words resonated in him, struck him.

"Just an angry street thug-"

The world reverberated around him as though it was splitting. Katsuki could see it clearly, the divergence of his paths. If he chose not to apologize he'd be lost to himself, to his goals. The thought terrified him. Without another word his arms snapped to his sides, his face and torso folded parallel to the floor.

"I'm sorry for being disrespectful."

"Much better." Tanuki tapped his staff.

As Katsuki stood the warriors in the field filed off, walking to who knew where. Oddly the boy did not feel ashamed at what they had witnessed, instead relief filled him. He had made the right choice, the good choice. A hiccup brought him back to the present, his eyes focusing on his parents. Pain struck him low to see him mom crying quietly, hidden half behind his father.