Set Me Free

Chapter 15. The Festival

--I-AM-A-LINE---

"Poetry, beauty, romance, love—these are what we stay alive for."

---I-AM-A-LINE---

Kirishima woke slowly, her senses prickling one by one. Touch and smell told her that she was someplace unfamiliar, yet she was with the one she was most familiar with. While she was now wide awake, the redhead was content to continue to lean on her companion while she relied on her hearing and her sense of smell instead.

Bakugou's steady breathing informed her that he was in a relaxed state, though not enough to be sleeping. Her ears twitched as she picked up the sound of running water, and she could almost taste the sweetness that it carried.

A cool gust of wind ran over her skin, and she subconsciously leant into the warmth at her side, drawing the blonde's attention. "Oi, "Bakugou jutted his shoulder to shake her, and the redhead stubbornly kept her eyes closed. "Tch."

To her surprise, the blonde didn't stand up from the wooden bench they were resting on, nor did he knock her off him, though she was surprised when she suddenly couldn't breathe through her nose.

Kirishima spluttered and shot to her feet, cupping her hands around her nose and glaring at the blonde. Her indignance faded away when she noticed the expression on his face. He was smirking, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of an amused smile.

It was gone almost instantly, however.

"Tch, bout time." He looked annoyed all of a sudden as he started walking away from her, and she couldn't help but grin as she ran to catch up. The cool air was attributed to the setting sun as the world grew dark; however, the darkness was only temporary.

As they got closer to the city square, music and lights lit the way, leading them to the apex of the celebration. Scores of people could be seen dancing and drinking wherever you looked, creating an atmosphere that spoke of comradery and youthful merriment.

"Ah, it's so pretty!" The sparkle in Kirishima's eyes rivalled even that of any light present, and the blonde could see her barely contained excitement. She and almost everyone else present had gotten swept up in the atmosphere, and he had doubts that any of them were coming back down to earth any time soon.

Bakugou sighed. Oh, what the hell, she had earned it.

Kirishima nearly fell flat on her face as she received a shove from behind. Turning, she saw the blonde lowering his hand. The blonde looked into her eyes, and in their depths, she saw silent encouragement. Bakugou watched as the redhead caught on and almost vibrated in place, seemingly indecisive about what to do first. He saw her bound up to one of the stalls, and realisation struck him.

Shit, that would be a problem.

Kirishima reached for some sort of sweet-smelling ball on a stick before a hand encircled her wrist, the now-present blonde dropping a round metal disc on the wood and reaching for the stick in her place.

"Huh?" Kirishima looked confused as the stick was shoved into her hand and the blonde pulled her off to a more secluded area.

"You need money; you can't just fucking take things." Bakugou looked at her in exasperation, or, to be more precise, he couldn't believe he had forgotten the red's blatant lack of knowledge of their world.

"That word again; the guards often talked about it. Is that metal circle 'money'?" Kirishima frowned.

"Tch, that's a part of it." Bakugou clenched his fists and looked away from the redhead; it made him angry to think about those bastards that had kept her locked away. He regretted not having torn every one of them to shreds. For some reason, it made him sick to think that those people had thought of her as nothing more than a means to line their pockets.