My Ride or Die- Kiribaku Fantasy AU

Eleven

Bakugou

That was a bad idea

As soon as I started falling, all air was sucked out of my lungs. Droplets from the waterfall stung my face. I looked into the current to see Nejire falling beside me in the water, looking concerned and reaching a hand towards me. I shook my head. I wanted to see if Kirishima would fly down.

"Bakugou!" Kirishima yelled from the top of the cliff. I looked up to see him dive down headfirst, growing in size as he did. Tamaki plummeted alongside him, but he didn't assist Kirishima as he struggled to force his wings open against the wind.

In a few seconds, Kirishima was next to me. He pulled me close to his chest and wrapped his wings around me to protect me. I felt Kirishima's scales harden and his wings scraped against each other with a sound that made me flinch.

"I got you." Kirishima murmured into my ear quietly.

My eyes widened. I held tightly onto Kirishima's forelegs. Kirishima raised his head and immediately tucked it back under his wing.

"Prepare for impact." He squeezed his eyes shut and I did the same. "I promise I won't break."

The sound of the water crashing into the pool deafened me. Kirishima pulled me closer to his body.

Once I could tell we were near the ground, fear made my bones cold. I wasn't scared for myself, I trusted Kirishima. I was scared that the dragon's scales would crack and he would die from the impact of the fall. Then I remembered something.

"TAMAKI!" I yelled into the wind.

A deep sigh echoed around me and Kirishima and suddenly we stopped falling. Tamaki wasn't visible, but I felt his presence holding Kirishima's body just a few feet above the bank of the waterfall pool.

I could feel Kirishima's heart racing at the speed of light. His breathing wasn't any slower. It slowly dawned on me what I had done. Kirishima hadn't even needed to fly to save me, he just needed to either trust himself or take a massive risk. I could tell he was shocked by what had happened. Guilt rose in my chest like a bundle of thorns.

I wrapped my arms around Kirishima's neck and pulled myself into its curve.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "That was stupid and I shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine." Kirishima's voice broke with each word. "At least I saved you."

I broke down. Tears silently flooded down my face and pooled in Kirishima's collarbone. No matter what he said, even later when he was relaxed, would ever be enough to clear the guilt.

"Hey, it's okay. I promise." Kirishima smiled at me. I just shook my head and hugged him again.

You stupid, stupid person. My mind scoffed. The only thing you've done today is nearly kill an innocent dragon. He should have let you die.

Kirishima

"Do you want me to try again?" I asked gently. It had been about an hour since... I guess I'd call it the accident? And Bakugou had calmed down bit by bit.

"How about we ask the air spirit for advice this time." Bakugou turned his face away, like he was too ashamed to look at me.

"I'm sure you have good ideas, that's just what you were thinking at the moment and even though it wasn't the best thing to do, everyone's okay!" I smiled.

"But next time it probably won't be okay." Bakugou said exasperatedly. "I'm a dumbass and I could end up hurting you."

"Hey, as long as you don't make us drown we'll be fine. I'm unbreakable!"

"Don't be so sure. Even the strongest things aren't strong at all without limits." Bakugou mumbled.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." A bubble floated in front of me and popped on my foot, releasing Nejire's voice. I hadn't even noticed that the three nymphs had surrounded us.

"Stuff it, Bubbles." Bakugou sighed and shook his head. "I don't feel like talking about this right now. You got any ideas, Tamaki?"

Tamaki shrugged. "I mean, Kirishima could always just take a running start and hope for the best when he jumps off the cli-"

"Or you could suspend his body in the air and he works to strengthen his wings!" Mirio shoved Tamaki aside.

"I don't have the energy for that." Tamaki laid on his back next to Mirio, who was cross-legged.

"Well..." Nejire's voice hummed near my ear. "If I can make it so that you have permanent air bubbles around your faces, would you guys like to practice 'flying' in the water?"

"Huh?" Bakugou curled his lip at Nejire. "How would that work? He's trying to fly, not swim."

"Well the movement and suspension is basically the same." Tamaki put a finger to his chin. "It would help him gain muscle in the right places of his body and get him used to the weightlessness and keeping his body up."

"That's a great idea!" I jumped up and wagged my tail.

Bakugou sighed. "Whatever you want, Shitty Scales."

"Let's do it!" I grinned. I trotted over to Nejire and rubbed my face against hers, making her laugh. "I'm gonna fly!"

word count: 833