"What's this festival for, anyway?" Katsuki asked a street vendor as he paid for a snack. The vendor looked up, raising a thick eyebrow.
"T'day is the anniversary of King Katsuki's coronation. I thought everybody knew."
Katsuki blinked. He didn't even celebrate that at home. Why was some random village in his kingdom doing it?
"How long have you been doing this?"
"This is the first year. We're hoping he'll return home soon."
Katsuki frowned, tugging his hood further over his face.
"I hope he does too." He lied.
"Enjoy the food."
"I will. Thanks."
Katsuki parted from the stall and decided to head back to where Eijirou was hiding in a nearby alley.
When he approached the dragon, he was given a bright, toothy smile.
"Find anything you liked?" He asked.
"This festival...is for me..." Katsuki sat down beside his friend, biting into the fried chicken he had bought. "They want me to come home."
"Of course they do. You're the king."
"I never asked to be king. I just want to be free."
Eijirou looked like he wanted to say something, but no words came out.
"You didn't even leave somebody else to run the castle while you were gone."
"Well...I was occupied..."
"Katsuki...everybody is worried about you. I know I said that I would follow you through this quest so you don't feel alone, but you make it very hard for me."
"If you wanna leave, then do it. I don't really care." Katsuki lied. He DID care about Eijirou leaving. Ei was all he had and all he needed. Ei was his best friend. If Ei left...Katsuki would have nothing.
"Do you remember...when we were little...and you threw that hissy fit over something your mom made you do?"
"You'll have to narrow it down, Ei. I did that a lot."
"You ran away from home." Eijirou continued. "And I followed because I had nowhere else to go."
"What are you getting at? Are you sayin that's the only reason you've followed me this far?"
"I'm not done."
"Okay, then finish."
"You got homesick and cried all night so we ended up coming back home the next morning." Eijirou concluded. "I'm just waiting for you to get homesick."
"Can't get homesick over something you don't consider home."
"Then where IS your home."
Katsuki thought about this for a moment. He had a feeling that Eijirou knew the answer, so he tried to guess what that might be.
"You."
"That's cheesy."
"You are my home, though. I don't feel right when you're not by my side. Those two years...and when you were sick...I might as well have been living in a gutter. I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference."
"How long did it take you to think that one up?"
"Are you mad at me?"
"Only the normal amount."
"So you're not gonna leave me?"
"I thought you didn't care if I leave."
"Eijirou..." Katsuki sighed. "There has never been a time when I cared more than I do now."
"You can say that again."
