The pair settled into camp in the forest that night, just as they had originally planned. Katsuki started a fire and cooked dinner over it. He decided to do a light one since they had eaten so much in town during the festival. The pair settled in to a quiet meal. It wasn't a bad quiet, as most quiets with Eijirou were, but he still felt the need to fill it.
"You think I should shave my head?"
"Are you having a mid-life crisis?"
"Only if I'm dying at forty."
"You better not die before me."
"You've already died once so I'm free to do so whenever I want."
Kirishima rolled his eyes. "I guess you could never cause the kind of grief I have, right?"
"Duh. Anyway, I need a better way to disguise myself. Can't have people dragging me home in the middle of a mission."
"Dragon you home."
"Stop that."
"You could try to put your hair up? It's long enough now."
"You think a tie will hold this mess?"
"I do."
Katsuki sighed and dug into his bag for a spare piece of string.
"If this doesn't work, I'm shaving it off."
"But...I like it like that..."
"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good." Katsuki muttered. "Besides, you didn't consult me when you changed your hair from red to black."
"That was a stress thing. It happened because my body was stressed, like how humans go grey."
Katsuki swallowed. "I know. I'm sorry."
"When we get home...maybe I could dye it back...for you." Eijirou's hands fumbled in his lap.
"Dumbass. You don't gotta do anything like that for me. I'm not your boss."
"No. But you're my best friend."
"And a real best friend wouldn't care about some dumb hair colour. It's just hair. It's part of you no matter if it's red or black."
"Thanks for the pep talk, but I like it better in red anyway."
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."
"Do you ever wondered...where we would be...if I hadn't been captured?"
"You'd be by my side and we'd be ruling this kingdom together."
Eijirou laughed. "That almost sounds like a love confession."
"It's not." Katsuki insisted.
"Why can't we just go do that now? Forget this whole thing and go home."
"Because we're so close to completing this quest."
"And then what?"
"What do you mean 'and then what'?"
"I mean...are you actually planning to go home. Or are you avoiding it?"
Katsuki swallowed. Eijirou always had to bring this up; always at the worst time.
"You sound like a therapist or something."
"Or your conscience." Eijirou laughed.
"Idiot." Katsuki rolled his eyes. "And anyway, I'm obviously going home after that. Where else would I go?"
Eijirou nodded, but he didn't look like he believed a word the blond said.
And he was right to. He didn't WANT to go home. This whole vengeance thing was just an excuse to stay away.
And Eijirou must have known this. He wasn't a complete idiot, after all.
But he wasn't going to admit to it. Because admitting it to Eijirou meant admitting it to himself.
