DRAGON'S BROOD II (Kirishima x Bakugou)

Chapter 26: It's your power, not his!

Bakugou's PoV

After Ochako and Deku had discussed the Order and the half Dragons until late into the night, they had asked me more about my mission. Ochako seemed very excited that after centuries of war there might indeed be unification and peace. Deku seemed to like this idea just as much but was still sceptical about the whole thing. His mumbling monologues, in which he weighed up how realistic the whole idea was, had cost me the last of my patience, so I had finally kicked them out.

Even though I was very tired, it had taken me a while to fall asleep. I had to think of Red, and I had the feeling that a heavy weight had fallen on my chest. Maybe it was normal to miss the person you loved and with whom you had spent every possible minute of the last few years. But the pain I felt in that lonely hour surpassed anything I had ever felt.

When I noticed that my eyes were wet with tears while thinking of him, I had instinctively closed them and again involuntarily felt for his marking on my neck. I did not want to cry and breathed deeply before tiredness overpowered me. The strange familiar smell of my past mixed with longing thoughts of my mate caused me restless, strange dreams.

---

Waiting alone in this room sucked. Restlessly, I walked up and down and waited impatiently for either Ochako or Deku to come. They had agreed to bring me to the prince and, when everything was clear, to pick me up. But several hours had passed since I woke up. The only thing I could do in this room was watch the events outside on the palace grounds. But it didn't seem to be a day for the recruits to train. And so the garden staff was the only thing I saw cutting the plants in quiet monotony.

I had stuffed the black hooded cape that Aizawa had given me into my bag and instead took out my cleanly folded red cape again and wrapped it around my shoulders. It didn't matter to me that it was conspicuous, and I would be recognized here with certainty immediately. For me it felt simply wrong to return to this place disguised. This was the place that had made me the man I was today.

While I was absently thinking about the past days in the yard I finally heard a knock on the door. Since I couldn't be 100% sure that it was one of my allies, I immediately put my hand on the sword handle and remained tense as I watched the handle slowly sink.

But immediately after the door had opened a little bit, I saw the light brown hair of the witch and I relaxed. My hand slipped again from the handle of my dragon blade.

"So Katsuki! Deku has spoken with Todoroki and he is willing to meet you," she said in a conspiratorial voice.

"You told him I was here?" I asked skeptically. It's not that the prince and I are on the outs of each other, but that's all. And the fact that he had immediately agreed to meet me, when I was considered a traitor to his empire, made me a little suspicious.

"Well." Ochako said and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "I don't think he told him exactly that it was you. But he told him that you were the key to making peace with the dragons. That seemed interesting enough for him to agree. Besides, he doesn't refuse anything from his Izuku anyway," she said and a mischievous grin had fallen on her face.

I frowned at this wording and wondered if I might have missed something. But before I could think any further, the witch interrupted my thoughts.

"Don't you think you'd better take the cape off? I should bring you to them and if someone sees you on the way ..." she asked carefully.

"No," I grumbled and looked at her defiantly.

She raised her hands defensively, but I saw the amused sparkle in her eyes. Then she turned around, carefully opened the door again and peered out. Since the coast was clear, she waved me in and opened the door completely.

She led me along the familiar corridors of the palace. Surprisingly, we met almost no one, and those we met were so busy with their work that they paid no attention to us. I knew I should be glad they didn't recognize me. But on the other hand, it reminded me of how reverent the staff used to be towards me. I frowned. Even if I would never have admitted it, this walk through the palace had a bitter aftertaste.

Ochako escorted me to the south wing of the palace and we went up to one of the watchtowers. Then we stood in front of an iron-framed door.

"Ready?" she asked and looked at me.

"Tch. Of fuckin' course," I just replied. But my heart was beating fast as she pushed down the handle. I wasn't excited because I was right opposite the prince. No, of course not. In the past we met more than once. I was excited because I had arrived at the point of my journey where it was decided whether I would succeed or not.

As I entered the room behind the witch, I immediately noticed how close Deku and Todoroki stood next to each other, but I ignored it and walked past Ochako towards the prince. The prince's multicolored eyes widened for a second in surprise, but immediately his face became expressionless again.

"You?" he asked and looked at me from top to bottom. "I thought you were dead."

I rolled my eyes. Why didn't people think of any other greeting? "Obviously I am not," I growled.

"I thought it was about peace, Izu? When I think of peace, Bakugou is not the first thing that comes to my mind," he asked Deku and turned to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shouted and Deku flinched at my sudden outburst, his eyes widened. But the prince didn't even look up at my words, but kept looking at the nerd.

"See?" Todoroki asked with a slight frown. "He was never particularly peaceful."

"Don't ignore me, you bastard!" I growled and finally the prince looked at me again. But he didn't seem impressed in the least.

"Then you explain it to me. How does it all fit together?" he asked and looked at me expectantly.

I had to fight down my fiery anger a bit before I started speaking. And once again I began to tell what had been going on over the last few years. I explained everything to him. Beginning with the half dragons, over the function of the order up to the mission, which had led us into the destroyed village at the edge of the mountains. Todoroki listened patiently. As always, his face was hard to read, but since he never interrupted me once during my explanations, I suspected that he was interested in what I told him.

After my little speech the Prince asked some questions about the Order and I answered everything with a somewhat uneasy feeling. It didn't feel right to tell someone everything about the Order who had not yet agreed to help us. Ochako jumped in whenever I couldn't answer something. She seemed to be convinced that the Prince would help me.

There was a moment of silence when Todoroki seemed to think. I impatiently fiddled with the handle of my sword. He should hurry with his decision!

"What do you think, Izu? Do you think all this is true? That our countries are enemies because of an ancient story and that it is possible to finally end the war?" he finally asked Deku.

There's that weird nickname again. Izu. I frowned.

"If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have suggested this meeting," Deku said with a sheepish smile.

Todoroki nodded slowly. "Okay, you've told so much about it now, except one thing. What exactly can I do for you?"

"We need someone the dragons can accept as their negotiating partner. They don't care who the current king is. All they care about is which blood is the one they are negotiating with. You are a Todoroki and as such you have the power to negotiate peace with them," I explained to him.

But the prince's expression hardened when he heard my words. "So you are only here because you need me as a Todoroki? You are only interested in the power that my father inherited me," he asked grimly.

I gritted my teeth together. Why else would I have come? But before I could return something heated, Deku intervened.

The nerd carefully took one hand of the prince and so drew his attention to him. "Shouto, it is not the power of your father. You have the power to make peace. It's your power, not his!"