DRAGON'S BROOD II (Kirishima x Bakugou)

Chapter 10: Necessary Evil

Bakugou's PoV

The fact that Red confronted the dragon right away made me very nervous at first. When the dragon finally accepted him as a conspecific, I relaxed visibly. Since I could only hear Red's part and he stood a few meters away from me, it was hard for me to follow the conversation. When Red could hold the dragon back despite his obvious hostility to us, I simply decided to trust him to handle it. I gave up trying to listen to the conversation and instead just watched the scene, looking for signs that the dragon would attack.

In his third and strongest form as a half dragon, Red looked extremely impressive. He hadn't folded the wings completely on his back during the whole conversation. Apparently he didn't trust the peace completely and therefore remained in a state of constant alert. The sun shone through his wing skins and projected red spots of light on the ground behind him.

I awakened from my rigidity when I noticed that the dragon stepped back a few steps and stretched its wings. Without paying any attention to the three of us, he jumped into the air and flew away. Frowning, I looked after him and only noticed that Red had approached us as he stood right in front of us. He had crossed his arms and looked thoughtfully to the ground.

"How'd it go?" Taran finally asked the one question that was on everyone's tongue.

Red scratched the back of his head, still with a crease between his eyebrows. "I'll tell you everything in a moment, but let's leave this place and prepare a camp first. I think we have a lot to talk about."

---

We had ridden a little back to the west and set up a small camp between the foothills. Finally, Red had reported the whole conversation to us. When he ended, we were all silent for a while.

"To sum up, for us this means: If we want to make progress with the peace, we have to make an influential dragon and the king negotiate with each other," asked Telana, who had her head on her right hand and looked at Red in disbelief.

Red shrugged his shoulders. "More or less. And for that, we'd have to win a dragon for our mission first."

"Okay, does that mean we're traveling to the Dragon Empire?" Taran asked doubtfully.

Red shook his head. "It's not that easy, you've seen how hostile they are to humans. If you'd come with us, you'd be in a lot of danger the whole trip. With Katsuki it's something else. Since he is my mate, he is probably considered as friendly. We both have to move on alone."

I straighten my shoulders and sat a little more upright as I interfered with the conversation for the first time. My next words were painful even before I spoke them. "No, I'm not going," I said quietly. Red looked at me confused and a little hurt. I took his hand and pressed it tight. "I know we've said that we can get through everything together, but there's probably a job for me to do, too."

Red looked at me without understanding. "What do you mean," he asked quietly, almost desperate.

"Somebody's got to go to the royal court. The dragon wants a Todoroki to negotiate with? Fine. But who but me could bring one here? Do you remember when you said that I was nobody who could sit idly by? You are right and in the empire of dragons I couldn't do anything, I might even stand in your way. But this is something I can do. Better than anyone else," I said and looked my mate in the eyes. Guilt came over me when I saw tears shimmering in them.

"You are so influential that you could convince the king himself to make peace with the dragons?" Telana asked in disbelief.

I frowned. "Right now I am anything but influential. Since our escape from the kingdom I have been considered a traitor. Since they cannot know that Red healed me on the battlefield, probably even as a dead traitor. But I know many at court and know they will listen to me once I get there. I doubt I can get to the King, but this half-and-half bastard hangs out with the servants all the time anyway. I could get to him and certainly convince him."

"Half-and-what?" she asked confused.

I rolled my eyes. "The prince. Shouto Todoroki. After all, the dragon didn't say anything about the king, only that it needed a Todoroki."

Telana's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea! He' s certainly easier to get, that could work!"

"Of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it," I grumbled. "So what do you think about that: Telana and Taran go back to the order and report what happened. Red flies to the dragons and tries to find someone who has enough influence to lead the peace negotiations and I get the prince."

Telana and Taran agreed immediately. Then we all looked at Red. The half-dragon had so tightly grasped my hand that it hurt.

"Red?" I asked carefully.

"I don't know if I can do this without you," he muttered, looking down.

"I don't like it either, but it's a necessary evil," I said, looking for his gaze. But since he was still holding his head down, I laid my free hand on his cheek. Hesitantly he looked up. I felt tears rising into my eyes as I looked into his reddened ones. "But you can do it, Red. We can do it."

A small tortured smile appeared on the lips of the half dragon. "Okay," he whispered his consent.

Even though I was well aware that Telana and Taran were watching the scene, I couldn't help it and pulled Red's face towards me. Longingly I put my lips on his and interlocked them into a gentle loving kiss. When I detached myself a little, I kept my eyes closed for a moment and laid my forehead against his. I will miss him so much.

Finally Red turned to the other two with a slight glimmer of red on his cheeks, who also replied to his gaze a little embarrassed. "Telana, which dragon family should I best contact in your opinion?"

She hesitated for a moment. "With the dragons, it's hard to tell which clan is the most influential. There was a royal family a long time ago, but as you already know, it was wiped out at the beginning of the war. There are three clans that are particularly influential: The Yumanaka, the Takera and of course the Kirishima. If you can convince one of the families, that would be great. But since you are a Kirishima yourself, I would suggest that you start with your own family."

Red nodded. "That's what I was going to do, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it in the spirit of the Order," he said quietly.

Once again silence fell over the camp.

"Okay," Taran finally said and clapped his hands. "Today we're not leaving anyway and it's already dawning. I suggest that we eat something and then lie down before we set off in different directions tomorrow."

The proposal received general support. But when we lay down and Red clung to me even more than usual, I thought about the days and weeks to come. It would take me a long time to hold the sleeping half dragon like that in my arms again. A feeling of anxiety rose in me. I pinched my eyes together as I kissed Red on the top of his head and a single tear ran down my cheek.