DRAGON'S BROOD II (Kirishima x Bakugou)

Chapter 35: Spreading peace intentions

Kirishima's PoV

I returned Katsuki's kiss deeply. Actually, I wanted to tell him the moment we saw each other again but we were interrupted and I had been so tired from the trip that I fell asleep immediately after we had set up the camp. And even the events of the last hours had not allowed me to tell him. But now I had finally managed to tell him about it and Katsuki's lips on mine spoke of the same happiness I had felt when I heard it before.

Katsuki loosened the kiss for a moment just to give me another short peck before he moved away a little and looked me in the eyes. I saw the tears shimmering in them but most of all I saw a warmth and a gentleness that was completely untypical for the dragonslayer.

Kaminari cleared his throat and I could literally see how my mate's gaze hardened. He blinked away the tears and threw an annoyed look at the pub owner. "What?" he hissed at him.

Kaminari tilted his head a little confused. "This was all about something other than the fact that you are a Dragon Prince," he remarked.

"You don't say. So did a few brain cells survive your last short circuit?", Katsuki growled, crossed his arms and moved away from me a little. The dragonslayer stared at him hostilely but didn't bother to explain it to him.

I reached for Katsuki's hand to calm him down a little. Even though Kaminari's decisions in the past were not always the best, he was someone I trusted and would call a friend. "Half dragons usually inherit two attributes from the dragons. Before my second heritage manifested itself, we had to assume that I inherited the long life span of dragons instead," I explained quietly.

Kaminari frowned. "To live long is something goo-" he started, then his eyes fell on my mate and suddenly he understood why this was such a big deal for us. "Oh." He looked down. "Okay, I understand, that would have been bitter. I can't imagine how it must have been for you," he said embarrassed and full of compassion.

But I smiled at him. "But that's not the case now. Kat and I can spend our lives together." I briefly squeezed Katsuki's hand once more. He gave me a quick glance and pulled up his shoulders a little uncomfortably. It was still hard for him to show his feelings to others but he held my hand and signaled me that it was okay to talk to Kami about it.

Now Todoroki spoke up. Midoriya had leaned against him tiredly and the prince had wrapped an arm around him. "If I understand correctly, does this mean that you and I will negotiate peace?" he asked. As always, his expression was quite neutral and didn't really show what he was thinking. "Then why are we moving on to the Order in the North? Couldn't we settle this here and now?"

I hesitated. Of course the question came up, because we finally had the opportunity to sit and talk together immediately. But still I didn't find it to be the right way. "I would prefer to go back to the Order," I confessed. "Not because I don't think the two of us can't agree on that. But I do think it takes more than two authorities deciding that peace prevails. A lot of educational work must be done on both sides to prevent future conflict."

Todoroki nodded slowly and pulled his eyebrows together a little. "You may be right. I still can't really imagine that people forget their fear of dragons so quickly. Too much has happened in the past," he said seriously.

"Wait a minute!" Kaminari suddenly exclaimed. "What's this all about? Have I understood that correctly? Peace? Peace between humans and dragons?"

I smiled at him. "Yes, exactly! It can't go on like this," I said enthusiastically and made a sweeping gesture.

Then I started telling him everything. Meanwhile I had the feeling that I had told the story so many times before, and yet I was aware that everything about the order and the dragons was unknown to almost everyone. I had to realize again and again that the world in which I lived was now a completely different one than that of most others. Kaminari's eyes grew big when I told him everything. I also took the chance to tell everyone about my experiences with the dragons, something I had not been able to do before. Everyone listened to me fascinated and even Midoriya had straightened up to listen to my report attentively.

When I had finished, I gave them a moment to think about my report. Midoriya thoughtfully touched his chin. "I didn't expect the dragons to perceive us humans this way. But it makes kind of sense. Whenever they invaded the human villages, a dragonslayer was immediately present. And over the last few centuries, our training has been so extensive and so focused on killing them that a dragon has hardly ever returned alive from its mission. And for us, it was only the beasts that destroyed everything," he murmured.

"The first time Miss Farney of the Order said that our war was based only on an old story, and nowadays we simply misunderstand each other, I didn't believe it either," I said shrugging my shoulders.

Todoroki nodded. "Everyone in this realm grew up thinking dragons were evil. Like you said, it takes a lot of educating. The more people know about it, the better and more likely the message will reach everywhere." He frowned.

"Spread a message among the people? I'm just the right man for that," Kaminari said with a grin and looked around expectantly.

"Tch," mumbled Katsuki. "you've done enough already."

"Hey!" protested Kaminari.

"I think that's not a bad idea, Kacchan." Midoriya said thoughtfully. "If he really has so many contacts and starts actively spreading the message, it could be very helpful."

"Hah?" Katsuki asked and stared at him. I didn't know what was going on between the two but I had the feeling he was about to disagree with him on principle.

I briefly pressed my mate's hand once more to draw his attention back to me. "He's right, Kat. It's better that people, even if they don't believe it from the beginning, have heard about it when the news spreads that we have made peace with the dragons."

"Tch." Katsuki said, but didn't argue anymore.

But was there another reason why Kami was the right man to spread the message that the ruling house had peace intentions with the dragons. Ariko was a good starting point for spreading such a message. The city was big enough that a single person who brought up such a topic did not immediately attract attention, and at the same time it was a city through which many travelers passed, so such a message could spread quickly. Kaminari's tavern was the perfect place for this.

"All right! I'll probably have to be a little careful who I tell this to, but I could also use Sero. And Mina! She was also convinced by Kiri in the first moment after all."

I thought back to my first encounter with Mina and blushed a little from embarrassment. Actually, unlike Kami, she had been very suspicious at first. But it was true that she had accepted me surprisingly quickly when she understood that Kat and I really loved each other. More than that, she had helped us both and I had already been deeply grateful to her for that.

I smiled. That was a good start. Happy and tired, I let myself sink against Katsuki. The dawn was already setting in and we had hardly slept that night. I yawned heartily.

"We should get some sleep before we ride further north," mumbled Kat, who looked down at me, smiling as well.

The others agreed, after all they too had had a short night. We gave Kami some of our blankets so that he could make himself comfortable.

When Katsuki lay down next to me he wrapped me tightly in his strong arms and I sighed comfortably and inhaled his scent. I smiled and gave him a short kiss on the lips. His eyes were already closed but the corners of his mouth twitched up when I separated from him.

I knew we had a lot of work to do. But here and now I strongly believed that everything would succeed as long as we were together.