Chapter Text
The reason neither Shouji nor Jirou had ever tried to take the kids back home was because it was just too dangerous. No one would tell Bakugou what exactly happened, but from what he could gather, they didn't leave. They were taken. Sprites were a rare commodity among slayers, the people who made a career out of hunting magical animals. Fully grown sprites could most likely handle themselves, but a couple of kids were fresh picking for anyone with a big enough stick. Gang Orca did his best, but even he couldn't always tell the honest from the dishonest, which meant telling anyone was out of the question entirely. Even if Jirou’s girlfriend, Yaoyorozu, came with them, it was far too dangerous to travel halfway across the continent with only a single trained fighter.
As of right now, a grand total of five people in the city knew that Yama and Yoshihito existed.
“Well, fuck,” Bakugou remarked. “Ears, I think it’s time I meet your girl.”
Jirou crossed her arms, glancing off to the side with a pensive look. “That’ll have to wait,” she sighed. “She’s on official business right now for Prince Shouto.”
Prince…
“Prince who? Who the fuck was going to tell me that she’s a knight?” Bakugou demanded. “I thought she was like you. ”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Anyway,” Shouji interrupted, holding his arms out with a slight shake of his head. “We can work out a plan before she comes. Bakugou, the journey to Hallows is fourteen days on horseback.”
Eyes flickering between Bakugou and the kids beside him, Shouji stepped forward, lowering his voice. “I know you said you were only passing through. It’s too much to ask you to take a fourteen day detour out of your way, but I can't, in good conscience, stay silent. These children need to go back home. They’ve already survived out here for far too long. Even if you could take them as far as half the way—”
“Shut up.”
Knowing Shouji, the fourteen days accounted for the fact that they would be traveling with kids, significantly slowing them down. It probably wasn't as long as he estimated, and besides, what kind of man would Bakugou be if he left these four to fend for themselves? It would only be a matter of time until one day, the polkweed didn't arrive fast enough. “You're an idiot,” Bakugou scoffed. “You dragged me into this mess,” he told the kids. Chastened, they hung their heads. “But I'm in it now. I don't half-ass shit, either. I'll escort you the full way. I'll take you home.”
Shouji let out a small breath of relief, and something in Bakugou’s chest lightened. He couldn't imagine how it had felt to watch two thin, thin children waste away and not be able to do anything about it. How much of his food had he given up for them? Jirou, as well. Somehow, the two of them had managed to keep them all alive, no doubt with Gang Orca and Yaoyorozu backing them as best as they could.
“Where’s Hallows?” Bakugou asked. “I'm assuming that since it’s swamp land, we’re going to have to travel south.”
Jirou nodded. “We’re lucky that we’re about as far east as you can get. From here, it’s straight down.”
“Straight—we can't do that,” Bakugou said, shaking his head. “Do you have any idea what that place is like? Crawling with bandits and slayers.”
“It’s the shortest way,” Jirou argued. “With the amount of polkweed we have now, we can't afford to take the long way.”
“So find more!”
“Gee, why didn't we think of that?” She snarked, scowling at him. “You don't get it. We don't have any more, and we haven't been able to find any more.”
Even the amount Bakugou’s father had was barely enough to sustain one child for a few days, let alone two. Jaw clenched, Bakugou wracked his brain for any alternative, but all he could picture was the look in his mother’s eyes as she told him to never, under any circumstances, travel south alone. Not with the limited experience he had.
But he wasn't alone anymore. If everything went well, he’d have a knight from one of the most well-respected divisions in the world by his side, along with Jirou and Shouji, both of whom could hold their own. They had cargo to take care of, but Bakugou doubted they would be too much trouble. With stakes this high, anyone with half a brain would know to stay out of trouble, and by the looks of it, Yama and Yoshi already knew too much for their age.
“Fine,” he ground out. “We’ll go through the pirate infested lands like a bunch of idiots.”
“It’s our only option,” Shouji reminded him.
“Why can't Gang Orca come with us, again?”
Bakugou remembered the scars running along his face, and grinned slightly. “From the looks of it, he knows his way around a fight.”
“He’s not going back to that life,” Shouji said firmly. “And he needs to stay here to keep the peace. It’s just us.”
Fucking whatever. If they wanted to be all cryptic, Bakugou wasn't going to pretend to give a shit. “I need a fucking room. Is there an inn here that isn't a piece of shit slum?”
“You can room in the attic,” Shouji offered. “It used to be mine, before I moved down here. Gang Orca hasn't found anyone to fill it. There might be some boxes here and there, but the mattress is still up, last I checked.”
‘Some boxes’ was an understatement. Bakugou didn't even have time to complain before Shouji was waving goodbye and leaving him in the dust-covered attic, piled floor to ceiling with crates upon crates of shit. There was a mattress, so Bakugou accepted with minimal grumbling. He flopped down, folding his hands under his head and staring up at the ceiling, nose wrinkling at the sheer amount of spiderwebs mildly swaying in the wind. Bakugou had tried, but the window didn't seem to want to close, so he was stuck in this chill.
Acting as a bodyguard wasn't exactly what Bakugou had in mind when he left home, but he couldn't deny that the idea of fighting his way through the south wasn't leaving him a little excited. If his parents knew, no doubt they’d try their hardest to bring him home, but this was exactly the kind of adventure he wanted. It was more than that. They were annoying little shits, sure, but Bakugou kind of really wanted those kids to live. He didn't know what kinds of horrors they'd been through—kidnapped, starved, and isolated at the least—but it was obvious that it was hurting them, more than just physically.
And yeah. A good part of it was wanting to knock the heads of whoever laid a hand on them. They'd get what was coming, Bakugou was going to make sure of it. He tried imagining what Yaoyorozu might look like, as a noble-woman turned soldier, on Prince Shouto’s personal guard, partners with the rudest person Bakugou had ever met—barring himself.
She better be interesting, Bakugou thought. He was in desperate need of interesting. So far, his needs had been fulfilled ever since he stepped into this city, into the Shark Tank where he was currently holed up in. By the looks of it, it was only going to get better.
Sitting up, Bakugou grabbed his bag. He’d stripped it of all food before taking it back from the kids, leaving them blubbering with thanks and dutifully ignoring the smug look on Jirou’s face. He pulled out the map, cringing at the writing his mom had made in the margins at the bottom, reminding him that he was looking in the wrong place if he could read it. Bakugou knew. He knew that he didn't have enough experience yet. He wasn't an idiot. It would be dangerous, but he also knew that he was strong. If he didn't have to look after Yama and Yoshi, Bakugou was sure he could brave the lands by himself.
His mom was just being cautious, that was all. Disregarding her warnings, he scanned the map for possible routes. River routes would be overcome with slayers, that was a guarantee, but the cliffside was too far from any towns. If they stuck to the edge, they would have to account for time spent traveling back and forth from towns to cliffside to buy necessities before retreating back to safety. No, that would add days to their trip. Their best bet was to stick to trade routes. If they shoved the kids in a wagon and pretended that they were merchants, the only people that would bother them were bandits, and they could easily fight them off.
The real danger would be the six cities dotting the map between where they were and their destination, Hallows. Southern cities were always melting pots. All kinds of people were welcomed; criminals, bandits, slayers—there, regular hunters like Bakugou were considered the bottom of the food chain.
“It’s fine,” Bakugou mumbled to himself. As long as they managed to stay a safe distance away from any villages before nightfall, they would be fine.
This semi-formed plan was more than Bakugou expected to accomplish, at least before meeting with the knight. According to Jirou, she wouldn't return to their place for another few hours. She wasn't permitted to tell them where Prince Shouto was staying either, eliminating the possibility of them going to her.
That meant that, four hours later, Bakugou opened the door to see Jirou leaning against the frame, fist poised to knock again. “Come on,” she said, gesturing for him to follow. “She’s staying at the embassy.”
Bakugou wasn't even aware that this town had an embassy. As they stepped out onto the street, he jolted with a sudden thought. “Will we meet the Prince?”
“Probably. I've met him a few times, and he’s not bad at all. Kind of—no, really awkward. Nothing like his dad. Momo only has good things to say about him, but she usually has good things to say about everyone.”
So far, this Yaoyorozu girl wasn't living up to Bakugou’s expectations of how a knight should act, but he knew better than to talk shit before meeting a person.
“How many guards does he have?”
“Four. We’ll probably meet them all, to be honest, knights and Prince both. We’ll have to convince him to let Momo take some time off to come with us, if she hasn't already. They're all really close, apparently, so I doubt he’s going to say no.”
Bakugou grunted in acknowledgement, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers. Jirou side-eyed him, brows furrowed like she wanted to say something, but stayed quiet. They walked the rest of the way in silence, slowing down considerably by the end. As much as he hated to admit it, Bakugou knew that it was mostly because of his own shuffling feet that it took them so long to get there. Right as he saw the gleaming marble of the building, a contrast to the dirt-brown of the rest of the city, Jirou slowed, pulling Bakugou to a stop with a hand on his arm.
“It’s right around the corner,” she told him.
“So why the fuck are we stopping?”
With far more audacity than Bakugou liked, Jirou shrugged. “There’s no reason to be nervous. You don't have to impress anyone, dude.”
“Shut up, I'm not nervous, ” Bakugou hissed. “Shut up.”
“Well, I was. First time I met him, I stalled so long that we talked for maybe five minutes, tops. It’s daunting,” Jirou said, expression pinched, gaze drifting from Bakugou’s face. “Like, he’s royalty, you know? And we’re just kind of…there.” Her eyes snapped back to him, and she gave him a smile. Not the teasing, mocking kinds they’d been trading before, but a genuine one. Despite himself, Bakugou felt reassured. “But he’s okay. For real, he’s nothing like what I thought a prince would be like. We’re all on equal footing right now, okay? All we’re doing is explaining the situation. No groveling or pleading or any of that shit. So don't be nervous.”
Heaving a sigh, Bakugou scrubbed a hand down his face and shoved Jirou’s shoulder. “Fuck off,” he grumbled. “Whatever. I'm fine.”
Jirou nodded, and just as she turned around, Bakugou swallowed. “Thanks,” he mumbled.
“Didn't know you were capable of that,” she laughed, nudging him with an elbow. Bakugou scoffed, pushing her back, and just like that, they were rounding the corner. Two knights stood at the entrance gates. Bakugou had no doubt that there were a dozen more prowling the grounds, most likely stationed there by the city. He glanced at Jirou, eyes widening as she strode up the steps confidently.
“What—”
“Hey Kendo, Tetsutetsu,” Jirou said, nodding to the guards. They didn't respond, gazes locked ahead of them, but she didn't seem to mind, beckoning Bakugou forward.
“Okay…” he said slowly. This was fucking weird. There was a huge staircase just beyond the doors, but Jirou led him through a hallway off to the side. At the end of the hall, Bakugou could hear low voices speaking through a cracked open door.
“We’re here,” Jirou announced, pushing the door open. Taking care not to duck his head, Bakugou glared around the room, kicking it closed behind him.
“Welcome!”
The speaker was big. Almost as muscular as Shouji, he wasn't in full knight armor, but he had his sheathed sword hanging off the side of his chair and a helmet tucked under his arm. Under the glare from his glasses, knocked askew by a startling hand gesture, Bakugou could just barely make out the bright red of his eyes. Sitting across from him was a woman with jet black hair, tied up in a spiky ponytail. Her eyes, warm despite their dark gray color, were settled on Jirou, crinkled with a soft smile. Between them…
Between them could only be the prince. With a head of half white and half red hair cocked to the side, he watched Bakugou with a calculating gaze.
“Welcome,” Prince Shouto echoed softly. “Please, take a seat.”
The two newcomers obliged. Jirou next to her girlfriend, and Bakugou at the other end of the table, scowling at Shouto’s raised eyebrow. “Sorry Shouji couldn't join us today,” Jirou said apologetically. “He didn't want to leave the kids alone.”
“Kids?” Shouto asked, turning his attention to her.
“Uh—how about we do introductions first, before getting into things? Everyone, this is Bakugou Katsuki.”
“It’s an honor, Bakugou Katsuki!” The red-eyed man exclaimed. “Iida Tenya, at your service.”
Somehow, he managed a bow in his seated position, nearly knocking his head against the table. The woman across from him laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “Yaoyorozu Momo,” she said, extending a hand. While shaking it, Bakugou noticed the hard calluses of her palm, and felt his lips curl into a smile.
“The two outside, Kendo Itsuka and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu will be joining us shortly, once their shifts are finished,” Shouto informed them. “My name is Todoroki Shouto.”
“Yeah, I know,” Bakugou snorted. “Can we stop wasting time now?”
Todoroki, Yaoyrozu, and Iida blinked at him, while Jirou shook her head, unable to stop herself from smiling. “Idiot,” she muttered. “But he’s right. We have a lot to talk about. Prince Shouto—” she stood, placing a hand on Yaoyorozu’s shoulder. “I’d like to request a leave of absence for Momo.”
Todoroki glanced between them, then at Bakugou and Iida. “Explain.”