Archive of Our Own

Midoriya Izuku hasn't always been on the lucky side. Wherever he goes, it's as if fate is playing a prank on him and rains him with misfortune. Nevertheless, such things never bothered Izuku. He remains full of hope and curiosity to venture on and move forward.

When he decided to become a hunter to learn more about the massive world he lives in, almost not a single day passes when something doesn't go wrong but that doesn't deter him. He knows what he's getting into when he entered this line of work. Now for example, is one of those days.

His main goal for today was to look for a Kirin and find out the cause of the great disturbances in the area. Kirin are rare creatures who are prized for their horns. This one he's looking for, however, isn't just any normal Kirin. It's humanoid and golden.

The 'great disturbances' are a thing but what really got him to the place was the golden Kirin. How does it live when it's so different from the few others of its kind? Are there more like it or is it just... alone?

His question is answered not so long after when the said monster zooms into the area he's surveying, panicking and alone. They both yelp and the Kirin doesn't waste any time, immediately readying himself for an attack. A loud roar echoes overhead and they both still, the Kirin blanching.

Izuku blinks and gulps, mind running a kilometer per second. That just now... if Izuku wasn't imagining it... might be the reason for the great disturbances. Its roar is much deeper and rumble-y than a Rathalos but he's pretty sure it's not unlike the dragon.

Wait, is it chasing the Kirin because he's GOLD?!

Izuku quickly enters his camp site, a burrow under the roots of the remains of a giant tree, and motions to the Kirin. The golden creature just looks at him as if he's crazy but another loud roar, now somewhat nearer, makes him dash towards Izuku.

The Golden Kirin's body was approximately the size of a horse, much much smaller than a normal Kirin. His body is not unlike a centaur, the green-haired man notes. Izuku takes the chance and whips out his notebook to jot down details of the golden creature hiding with him. He can feel a steady stream of static electricity in the air, making the hair on his arms rise. Almost exactly like a normal Kirin, even the characteristic horn of the species on his forehead is there. The only thing that seems different about him is the humanoid upper body, the golden mane, and the black streak that resembles a thunderbolt decorating his glowing hair. Izuku bites his lip and just wishes that the glow can't be seen outside of their hiding place.

Strong gusts of wind are heard and they lower their heads, eyes unblinking to catch the dragon's feet outside. The glow of the Kirin's mane dims a little. He can regulate it, Izuku writes down. A strong shake of the ground and the wood around them makes him freeze as his blood runs cold.

No dragonic feet are seen outside as a stomp is heard, chips of wood falling around them. The dragon landed on the tree they're hiding in.

An enormous clawed wing grabs on the root just a few centimeters above Izuku and he cowers. He feels the Kirin shift to grab and bite on his clothes and slowly pull him back. Izuku closes his eyes, wishing that the dragon's hide is thick enough for him not to feel the fearful crackling of electricity generating around them.

A hot huff blows over them, followed by a strong gust that sends Izuku's back flat against the deeper side of the burrow as the dragon re-enters the sky. The flapping of strong wings start to sound distant and they stare at each other for a few before letting out a deep exhale.

Well that's something.

The Kirin, whom he now nicknamed Denki (which literally means 'electric', Izuku mentally hits himself from the lack of imagination) curiously follows him around as he searches the area for other tracks of monsters. It seems that the guy now sees him as friendly, although Izuku worries about how easily he trusted him. At least it'll be easier to research about Denki. The Kirin has a knack with gnawing on his white button up when he's taking a break and he has to constantly remind him that it's not something he should eat.

Checking his supplies, he soon realizes that he's almost out of food. Izuku decides to go hunt or catch some fish instead of gnawing on his preserved rations, planning to save them until he reaches a point where food is abyssmally scarce. Denki follows him as he ventures, finally hearing a sound that made Izuku's head perk up not long after.

Izuku follows the sound of the herbivorous Aptonoth, daydreaming of well-done steak, when he soon sees water beyond the thick fence of trees. There's a few of them grazing on the grass near the sea, a small one slightly away from the herd to chase a glowing bug into the shore.

He beams, quickly constructing a plan to sneak up behind one and finish it quickly but before he can reach his Charge Blade, a noise from Denki stops him.

"What's the matter?" Izuku turns to ask and realizes how far away Denki is from him. Electricity crackles in the air, his temporary companion on high alert. "What is it?" He decides to leave the Aptonoths for now to check on the Kirin when a loud splash, followed by the small monster's cry, resounds.

Izuku freezes in his tracks on the way to Denki and the both of them reflexively duck. One of the Aptonoths charges into the water as the others quickly run away into the woods, the brave monster following the muffled sounds of the small one. A big, sudden wave of water blocks Izuku and Denki's view but the hunter catches a glimpse of a huge webbed hand dragging the Aptonoth, claws sinking into skin to keep it from struggling away.

Its wails are helplessly muffled underwater and after a several beats, the cries were no more, only the gentle sound of the waves as if there hasn't been anything there in the first place.

Izuku scans the water and sees the long and slender tail under, gracefully maneuvering without breaking the surface. He realizes that the shore is actually short and after it comes a sheer drop. He should keep it in mind to write down later, that will be dangerous to any unsuspecting hunters that might go around the area. The last thing he sees is the bright orange tip of the monster's huge fin before it dives deeper into the blue sea, carrying its meal.

The greenette nods to himself and decides that yeah, he's not going to stay even ten meters near that area, thank you. Ration for dinner it is. Just when they're about to head back to the campsite, a shadow flies overhead and a crash is heard nearby, the dragon's bellowing roar from earlier resounding alongside the shrill screech of the Royal Ludroth, a lion-like water leviathan.

Izuku groans as Denki pulls him away. Just great, they're in the middle of two dangerous monsters that he doesn't have a single inch of data about. From what he hears, it seems that the Royal Ludroth is struggling to fight with its airborne enemy. They both jolt when a couple of trees were sent falling as the huge monster gets tossed around like a ragdoll. Woah, is the dragon really planning to take it away for dinner?

The sound of the Royal Ludroth's impact into the ground from what could be at least a dozen meters high is heard, confirming Izuku's theory. How big is that thing that it can carry a 16 meter (52 ft 5 in) monster that high up while it's still kicking and struggling?!

It isn't safe here anymore, they should return to camp.

They could either try to sneak past the fighting monsters while evading the big attacks they dish out or go around through a longer route, under a waterfall beside the shore and then circling all the way back to camp. The latter may sound safer but it requires going near the water where the other unknown monster is. What bad luck...

... But pretty much a normal day for Izuku. He shakes his head and sighs.

Izuku decides to go with the latter, the monster might still be eating the big Aptonoth after all. As they approach the water, Izuku quickly realizes another problem: they'll be out in the open with nothing but some rocks to cover them.

Normally, this isn't a problem because Izuku doesn't really have that much of a presence but the thing is, Denki is glowing. Not to mention that his element is electricity and they're going to water. If that dragon spots them from the sky, there's a chance that it'll abandon its fight with the Royal Ludroth and swoop in for him instead. There's also the thing where he might panic and unleash a blast of electricity and they'll be calf-deep in water and... that’s just not good.

"Can you dim your mane?" He asks and Denki tries. It dims a little. They can only hope it's enough for the dragon not to notice it. "Okay. We'll be going to the water so keep calm and don't do anything rash, okay?" he says and Denki nods, gulping.

They're quietly trekking along the shallow water approaching the raging waterfall when he sees it. Them. Two red orbs underwater, gazing straight in their direction. Crap.

He freezes and Denki does too, eyes following what he's looking at and flinching at the sight. Do they run? It might chase them if they run. Izuku gives it a few seconds of not moving and those few seconds felt like an eternity. The creature's glowing eyes blink slowly, cocking to the side. It's not attacking. Why is it not attacking?

There's something in those eyes and he tries to pinpoint them. Curiosity, perhaps? No, something else. Izuku frowns and looks deep into them, back slowly straightening and leaving his hunched position. Ah.

Recognition.

Denki jolts, alarmed, when Izuku walks towards the deeper waters and rests his hands on his knees. He follows with a dead grip on the back of the greenette's clothes, ready to pull him and dash for it if something happens. Izuku feels his heart thumping hard in his chest as the monster approaches.

The top of a head pokes out of the water, a pair of red eyes blinking at him. Pink, fin-like ears with orange tips shake at him.

"K-Kacchan..?" Izuku breathes.

He feels the deep rumble from the monster's throat as the monster holds onto the shallow shore and lifts his head out of the water. His unruly ashen blonde hair is the same as Izuku remembers it, retaining its shape even if it's soaked in water. Beautiful scales adorn the sides of his eyes, glinting under the sunlight. The gills on either sides of his neck close shut except for the bottom pair that's still underwater.

He reaches forward to touch him but the monster shakes him away, pouting. Izuku laughs. "Denki! I know him! His name is Katsuki and we were childhood friends!" The greenette beams and the ashen blonde looks at the Kirin. Denki gapes, nodding after a beat once it sinks in that the monster that ate a small Aptonoth in one bite isn't gonna attack them.

"It's been so long Kacchan! I can't believe you can still remember me! How long has it been- 14… 15 years?" Izuku giddily hops on the balls of his feet. He remembers it, back when he was small and Kacchan is no bigger than him. Back then, everybody thought that Kacchan was a baby mermaid like those in the fairytales but now...

He's absolutely massive.

From his head alone, Izuku estimates that the length from the top of his head up to the bottom of his torso is at least 7.8 meters (25+ ft). Woah, Kacchan is really amazing.

"Kacchan, can I see the rest of you?" Izuku asks with gleaming eyes and Katsuki frowns. Despite looking like that, he hefts himself up and drapes his muscled torso on the shore, the rest of his body gently swishing in the water. He props his arm and rests his head on his webbed hand, the other resting lazily on his waist. Looking at him like this, it's no wonder he was able to effortlessly drag the Aptonoth in, the herbivore didn't stand a chance.

Denki's eyes are like dinner plates upon seeing how enormous Katsuki is while Izuku is just beaming and gushing. The way the fins are attached to his body reminds Izuku of an Amatsu but the colors are entirely different. His scales glint like heartscales under the sun, enormous fins giving the rest of his body an impressive, flower-like appearance.

Speaking of tail, Izuku peers down the sheer drop to see his long tail lazily swishing around. He can't see it clearly due to the water's refraction but that could easily be twice as long as his torso if not more, making him quite serpentine. Now that he sees everything closely, Izuku notices long-healed scars on both his torso and tail. Katsuki must have gone through a lot.

He looks for permission to touch one of Katsuki's fins and receives a menacing glare. Ah, that's off-limits, huh. Izuku steps back and admires them instead. Not looking at him like he's a predator, Katsuki is absolutely stunning. And to think this enormous creature was once as small as him back when they were children...

A poke on his head catches his attention. Izuku blinks as a huge finger pats his head and he grins at Katsuki. His childhood friend lowers his finger so that Izuku can hold it instead. He and Denki both watch as the finger flexes and a claw comes out. Izuku smiles to himself as Denki moves to touch the claw.

Amazing experiences like this is why Izuku chose this kind of life.

As if reminding them of what they've forgotten, an approaching screech gets them back to their senses. Katsuki's resting fins immediately flare up and he goes full alert, retreating back into the water in one swift, precise motion. Izuku and Denki dashes to the waterfall and hides.

The Royal Ludroth comes dashing in a panic, mane and front legs destroyed. It's making a beeline to the water, Katsuki's territory. Izuku can almost see a cartoon vein pop on top of Katsuki's head. That Royal Ludroth is in for a bad time.

Before it can jump into the water, Katsuki leaps out, wrapping his body around the Royal Ludroth with amazing speed and ruining its dive, making it slam on the shore first before falling down the sheer drop. For less than a second, Izuku saw how big the rest of Katsuki's body was. If the Royal Ludroth is 16 meters, Katsuki is much bigger than that.

As if he's realized he's made a grave mistake, the Royal Ludroth flails and tries to claw his way back to dry land, making indents on the shore. The harder he moves, the tighter Katsuki wraps and before long, Katsuki is dragging the now weakly struggling monster into the ocean.

A loud roar makes Izuku cover his ears. An enormous red... dragon swoops down and grabs the Royal Ludroth, deadly claws impaling the flesh. Izuku notices a lot of other similar shaped wounds on the Royal Ludroth. In an amazing feat of strength, he gives one strong flap of wings that sends the water denting from the wind pressure and successfully brings the Royal Ludroth in the air along with Katsuki. Katsuki quickly dislodges and falls back into the water with a pissed growl. Oh no, he’s angry.

Before the dragon can fully take off, Katsuki jumps out of the water and knocks the dragon into the shore, wrapping his tail around the other’s torso before kicking his fins into the water to drag him down. The dragon struggles, unlatching one of his claws to dig into the dirt, preventing him from being pulled where he wouldn’t be able to properly fight. Katsuki inhales deeply and roars right into the dragon’s ears, sharp fins shaking and rattling against the other’s body. The dragon staggers, dizzy from the deafening roar, and gives Katsuki an opening to pull him down. The dragon lets go of the Royal Ludroth to brace himself and raises his wings high.

He flaps with amazing power, sending waves of water away with every strong movement of his wings. Katsuki loses his grip and slips off, falling down into the water with a loud splash. His glare turns into one of surprise when he realizes that his sharp fins did nothing to wound the dragon’s scales. The dragon lands on the ground nearby and roars, sending tremors into the ground with its magnitude.

Izuku can almost feel his legs give in with how big that thing is.

It may slightly look like a Rathalos but it’s bigger. His spiky red hair seems to harden at will and his scales can turn into sharp rocks. He sports a pair of horns on his head, a pair of fin-like ears just like Katsuki’s, and, like what seems to be a thing around this area, he’s also humanoid.

Except that he’s almost the size of a small house.

Something illuminates underneath his skin, giving his hardened scales a glowing, molten-like appearance. This guy… is dangerous. He looks dangerous as hell. Denki trembles behind Izuku and a soft cackling of fearful electricity generates around them.

“Cut it, Denki! We’re beneath a waterfall!” Izuku scolds.

Another roar with an underlying screech resounds and they turn back to see Katsuki out of the water, fins flared wide like a peacock and poised low to attack. Despite the fins not standing straight due to him being out of water, he still gives off a menacing aura. Izuku bets that the position would look breath-taking in the environment he lives in.

But that’s beside the point! Roaring at each other like that… means they’re starting a turf war! Gah, stubborn Katsuki! He doesn’t have to steal the dragon’s kill! He literally just ate an Aptonoth!!

Izuku searches and sees the now unmoving Royal Ludroth lying at the side, ready to be eaten. The two, however, seems to have forgotten all about it. Katsuki sports a crazed smile, fins rattling with excitement. Izuku sweats. How is Katsuki even planning to fight outside of the water? The greenette worriedly peers at the dragon and sees him in a similar fighting stance.

This will get messy but Izuku can’t leave now. He can’t do anything about it but he can’t help but be worried. Maybe if Katsuki looks like he’s about to lose, he’ll just throw a dung bomb at the dragon and pray that it will go away.

There’s a long silence between the two, both of them waiting for the other to make a move. The dragon digs his claw into the ground and Katsuki immediately lunges.

The dragon wasn’t even able to take off when Katsuki's claws are already on him. He immediately hardens his front scales but that resulted with Katsuki being able to grasp on them easily and pull himself up. The dragon falls down and Katsuki immediately latches on. With a big inhale, the dragon unleashes a breath of fire. Katsuki dodges with a roll and uses the momentum to leap back onto him. The dragon evades and uses his clawed wing to hit Katsuki.

The serpent was able to block but the force was enough to push him back and he stumbles backwards. Something cold hits his tail and he turns his head to see the Royal Ludroth.

Ah, there it is. They seem to both have remembered what they were fighting about. With a smirk, Katsuki wraps his tail around the Royal Ludroth and throws it into the water with one swift movement.

The dragon blinks and blanches, moving to chase after his sinking prey but Katsuki blocks his way, whipping his tail and hitting the dragon.

Izuku is astounded with how fast Katsuki can maneuver out of the water. Even with his gargantuan size, he moves around with precise movements and calculated twirls. It’s like he’s dancing.

The dragon stumbles with how fast Katsuki slithers around. He can't attack that easily because even though he might look like he's bigger than Katsuki, the serpent is much longer. One wrong move and he might get sent down into the ocean just like the sinking Royal Ludroth from earlier.

That's when something hits Izuku. That's not all that Katsuki does, right? Back then, he remembers Katsuki showing off an ability that only he can do...

As if on cue, a blinding blast sends the dragon backwards. It does nothing to his hardened skin but he's surprised nonetheless. That's right, Izuku remembers how Katsuki can do short blasts of very hot light that resembles explosions without all the smoke. That's got to be a devastating attack underwater. Does it have the same effects in the open air?

The dragon gives Katsuki a smirk and lunges. Izuku grimaces. It seems that the both of them are really into it now. The heated explosions do nothing to the dragon and Katsuki gets stuck in defense, somehow his explosions look like they're getting weaker despite the intensity of his attacks.

Little by little, Katsuki gets pushed back into the water while they're fighting. The greenette moves to fish out a dung bomb but before he can even hold on to it, Katsuki dips himself back into the water and lunges out.

An explosion stronger than everything he has dished out earlier resounds and a pained yelp leaves the dragon as he stumbles back. He did it! There's a crack on the hardened surface of the dragon's front!

Katsuki grins menacingly and the dragon grits his teeth. Is he going to continue fighting or will he run away?

It seems it's the latter, Izuku sighs in relief.

A strong wind signals the dragon's exit as he flies high into the sky. Katsuki huffs proudly and basks in his win before diving back down to get the Royal Ludroth. He fishes it out and dumps it on the shore.

Katsuki smells it and makes a face, pushing it away before draping himself back on the shallow waters. Izuku sweats.

"Kacchan... could it be... You don't even want to eat that thing?!" The greenette points. Katsuki huffs and pats his belly. Ah, right. He just ate two Aptonoths so he's full.

"But Kacchan!! You just took away the dragon's meal!! Geez! If you didn't want to eat it, you should've just let him instead of fighting him!" Izuku slaps a hand to his forehead and Denki makes a face. This guy is ridiculous.

Katsuki, like the asshole he is, dips his hand in the water and splashes some at the two. Izuku and Denki gapes as Katsuki laughs at them in their dumb, drenched glory.

Great, he still has some energy left after the fight so now he's feeling playful. Katsuki lets himself fall into the water and invites them in. Izuku feels his eyes widen. Is... is he really letting them in his territory?

Izuku looks at Denki and the Kirin steps back, shaking his head and grimacing. Right, he doesn't even know if Denki knows how to swim. Izuku doesn't want to let this opportunity pass through though. He removes one of his packs and puts his notebooks and important stuff in before handing it to Denki.

Denki gingerly nods at him. "It's alright, I swear! I'll be back," Izuku assures before putting his goggles on and jumping in the water.

Now that he's underwater, he can see finally see the ashen blonde's body where it truly belongs. Everything about him looks magnificent and Izuku can't wait to put more data in his notebooks later.

Denki eyes the dead Royal Ludroth and, despite being a herbivore, frowns in disdain with how much a waste of food it is. There's probably a lot to see underwater and Izuku will surely take his time so...

The Kirin blanches at his own idea. He was able to run away from it earlier and now this big guy has been taken from him so he figures that the dragon may not have eaten anything yet. That's just sad. Well, he's a carnivore that tried to eat him but that's because he has to or else he'll starve, right?

Whatever. The dragon's wounded so it won't be able to chase something as fast as a Kirin anyways.

He latches the pack behind him just like Izuku does and goes off to where he ran into the dragon the first time he saw him.

The cave by the mountain side looks as imposing as it was earlier but instead of silence, he can hear the faint grumble of the dragon. He peeks and sees the red guy pouting, drawing lines on the rocks while blowing into his cheeks. He's whining to himself and digging his face into the ground.

Man, he looks so sad about it.

Denki sighs to himself and kicks a pebble to get his attention. Instead of jumping to full alert like Katsuki did, his just blinks before turning and staring at him.

After a few beats, he huffs and turns his back towards Denki. He swallows his fear and trudges into the cave, patting the dragon's back so he can face him. He just whines. Ugh, this big baby-!!

Denki huffs and starts pestering him with new vigor, pushing and pinching and kicking. The dragon just hardens his back scales and ignores him.

His last resort is blasting everything around him with a strong surge of electricity.

The dragon yelps and immediately rises, glaring at him with irritation. Denki blanches and points at the direction of the shore. The dragon blinks at him. Denki stomps and points at the shore but harder.

He does not understand.

Denki slaps his face with a groan. He pulls on the dragon's claw before he goes down the mountain. Looking back, it seems that the dragon was curious enough to follow him at least.

On their way to the shore, the dragon realizes where they're going and abruptly stops, growling at Denki. The Kirin shakes his head and grabs on the redhead's claw, pointing at something. Looking closely, the dragon realizes that it's the dead Royal Ludroth.

He carefully approaches and looks around. There's no serpent in sight. This isn't a trap, is it? The Kirin huffs, looking proud of himself, before sitting near the shore and looking at the water.

The dragon purses his lips before taking a small bite. When it looks like there's no one coming, he grabs on the Royal Ludroth and starts eating wholeheartedly.

Denki blanches and looks away. Right, this guy is a carnivore eating another carnivore. He did something really wild today, whew.

The dragon finishes fast and, in a sign of gratitude, nuzzles Denki's side with a smile. Denki blinks and pats the other's nose. The dragon gives him a toothy grin before stepping back enough to not blow Denki away as he takes flight.

Denki internally cheers. He did something good and made friends!!

A few minutes later, Izuku emerges from the water with packs full of items and a really happy smile. He looks over to the water and shouts, "Thank you, Kacchan!"

A long tail breaks the surface of the water, signalling Katsuki's dive deep down. The orange tip of his tail is the last thing they see before he completely disappears and all that's left is the view of a peaceful, quiet sea.

The drenched Izuku giddily checks his packs, swaying back and forth. He's collected a lot of data and he can't wait to write all his findings down later. He turns to Denki with a big smile but freezes when something catches at the peripheral of his vision.

Izuku pales and mechanically turns at the Royal Ludroth- ah, change that- what's left of the Royal Ludroth. There's a big pile of bones and ripped skin, whoever ate it probably only wanted the meat. Izuku looks over to Denki and receives a proud huff, the Kirin jutting out his chest and giving the greenette a wide grin.

Izuku couldn't believe himself later when he trudges to his campsite and sees a familiar dragon resting on top of the giant tree stump with an Aptonoth lying unmoving in-front of him.

The two of them gape as the dragon gives them a bright smile before he raises his wings and flies away.

Huh, now that Izuku remembers it, he's forgotten that he actually set off because of food. It seems he doesn't have to set off again anymore since a fresh source of hunted meat has been delivered right at their doorstep. Izuku gulps and pats Denki's back. "It seems you've made a somewhat unlikely friend, huh, Denki?"

Denki sweats. He... did the right thing, yeah?

The next day, Izuku brings Denki to the apothecary who asked him to be found in the first place. The man, Sero, revels at the golden creature in-front of him and gives Izuku a handsome reward. Denki finds he likes the guy. Totally unrelated to the heapton of food and gifts he got from Sero, of course! Haha!

Denki has to make more techniques for the next time they go back to him though, it might get him more of those sweet honey candies!

"You're pretty sly aren't you, Denki?" 

Izuku snickers as he pokes Denki's arm. The Kirin got himself his own pack from Sero for when he wants to store items he finds for himself. Not without posing and some good acting, of course.

The greenette has to stop himself from laughing with how Denki exaggeratedly acted like he's all graceful, high and mighty earlier, unlike the usual goofball he normally is. Only things missing are the sparkles and roses and he'll look like one of those characters from the short stories he sees in shoujou books back when he was a kid.

They're on their way to the campsite when they hear familiar roars from far away. The two blanch as they turn to each other, quickly deciding to take the detour to the nearest shore.

They easily spot the two big monsters fighting. Again. This time, they're far from the shore, clashing with each other in the middle of the ocean.

The red dragon's bite is locked as he pulls on what looks like a huge shark filled with claw marks from talons and slices from sharp fins. Katsuki is there, of course, pulling the shark monster back to the water, his jaws and webbed hands clasped tightly onto it.

Izuku makes a face as Denki blinks in confusion. This shore is far away from the place they first saw Katsuki, which means...

"This isn't even your territory anymore, Kacchan," Izuku grumbles to himself as he scratches the back of his head. Denki sweats as he looks on the two at sea. The dragon might be here to hunt his food, purposely evading Katsuki's territory, but for some sort of reason, the ashen blonde is here.

With a strong pull from both, they hear alarming pops of bone from the shark. The beaten flesh splits into two and the fighting monsters comically fall back to the water from the sudden loss of pull from the other.

With a triumphant roar, the dragon flies away, carrying half of its prey. Izuku gasps upon seeing how big the monster they're fighting about actually is. He wonders which one of them got to it first, it's so big it might be about 20 meters long (65+ ft) and at least 12 meters wide (39+ ft) if not split in half. With a size that big, it's probable that the monster didn't expect that it can still have predators chasing after it.

Katsuki throws his half on the shore and unflares his fins, fanning the muddled red of the water with a grimace. He prefers to eat clean, it seems. The two finally decides to approach him and Katsuki grabs on his food in alarm before realizing it's just them.

"What are you doing here, Kacchan? Don't you have a big enough territory?" Izuku asks and Katsuki frowns at him before looking around. He shrugs before peeling the skin of his prey and slicing a small part with his claw, throwing it in Izuku's direction.

"Ah, it's okay! We ate already!" Izuku raises his hands but Katsuki just gives him a look before ignoring him and eating. Denki watches him with fascination, the way Katsuki eats is different from how the dragon does.

He still takes a mouthful of bites but he does so carefully as to not get any grime or blood on him, peeling the skin off clean with his claws to not waste anything.

Izuku picks up the slab of fish meat and hooks it before throwing it on his back to save for later. Maybe he'll cut it into small pieces and dry them under the sun? Or he can smoke them too!

Studying the wounds on the body that Katsuki is eating, Izuku deduces a theory that maybe, Katsuki fought the monster and chased after it. The dragon, who might've seen the blood from above, swooped in to get it at the same time Katsuki got his hands on it, leading to them fighting over it. It might've died in the middle of their fight just like the Royal Ludroth from yesterday too.

Izuku looks over the monster and puts a finger on his chin. "Kacchan... Can you even finish that in one eating?" He asks. As if on cue, Katsuki sits back with a satisfied sigh, licking the sides of his lips.

He's full but he only got to eat a quarter of the whole thing.

"Kacchan! You shouldn't hunt food if you know they're too much for you!" Izuku groans, slapping a hand on his forehead. It's a good thing the dragon got half of it then. Katsuki rolls his eyes before lifting his arms and stretching, eyeing the rest of the food. 

"Why don't you store it in your cave so you can save it for later?" Izuku suggests and Denki turns to him, surprised. Katsuki has a nest? Izuku notices the look and beams.

"Kacchan showed me yesterday! He has an underwater cave but part of it has air!! There were different species of plants there so I took some samples," the greenette grins. So his nest has dry surface in it, huh.

Katsuki grabs his food and pulls it to the water, giving Izuku a huff before diving down, as if saying that that's what he had been thinking anyways. The two of them head back to camp while Izuku gushes about Katsuki's nest, how there are geysers and thick forests of giant kelp nearby and how cold it gets in his cave sometimes that he camps out by the geysers instead.

"And do you know that barnacles sometimes attach themselves on Kacchan? He has some on his back! I don't know if it causes drag because he's pretty big but that would be annoying and itchy, don't you think?" he continues as they reach the campsite. Izuku moves to get his knife and slices the fish meat into little pieces.

Once the preparations are done, Izuku looks around for a spot to lay some under the sun, leaving the others to smoke.

"I didn't really think about this... Some smaller creatures might snatch them away if we're not careful," he says. Then they just have to find a place smaller creatures won't go to right? A bulb lights up in Denki's brain and he grins, pulling Izuku to a place he's sure no other small monsters would dare go to.

Izuku's mouth hangs open at the sight of huge, discarded fish bones just below the cliff overlooking the cave. "I can't believe you got to eat all of that in one go," he points at the full and satisfied dragon who's curiously following him as he peeks around the huge cave.

Hmmm, they can't just call him 'that red dragon' all the time, right? "Hm, how about I call you... Eijirou? Is the name Eijirou fine with you?" Izuku asks.

Eijirou, huh. It sounds like a nice name. Has a nice, manly feel to it too! The redhead grins and lowers his head to the ground, resting it above the claws on his wings.

Izuku sees it as an invitation to pat him. Eyes wide in wonder, Izuku stretches his hand to touch the scales below the dragon's... uh, below Eijirou's eye. They're smooth to the touch and some of them are as big as Izuku's hand. He would touch Eijirou's horns if he can but sadly, he isn't tall enough to reach them even with the dragon's position.

Izuku blinks as he notices a scar above Eijirou's right eye. He wonders how he got it. The dragon stretches up and Izuku gets to look at the structure of his body. The upper half of his torso is mostly humane, littered with scales here and there. Instead of arms, he has massive wings, its ratio to his body like a bat's. The claws, which he also kinda uses as front legs or hands, look deadly as how a predator's should be.

Eijirou's demeanor is quite friendly despite being one though. Izuku worriedly looks over his front and sees a faint gash that's barely recognizable. Is that... the crack that Katsuki gave him? It has already been healed, thankfully.

His regeneration is top-notch, Izuku makes a note to write it down later.

"You're really nice, Eijirou! And you eat up everything from your hunt too! Katsuki fought you for it but he barely even got to eat at least a third of that monster earlier," Izuku complains.

Katsuki? Eijirou cocks his head to the side. Is Katsuki... the name of that oversized explosive fish from the sea? Eijirou makes a grimace upon realizing who it is.

Izuku laughs. "Sorry about that. Katsuki is just... really territorial and greedy most of the time," the greenette apologizes.

Yeah, if Eijirou's going to look for two words to describe that guy, those would be the most fitting. The dragon huffs. He seems like the type of guy who would go out of his way to look for a good fight. Not like Eijirou detests it though. He bets that the little fight they had yesterday would've been enjoyable if he ain't starving as hell.

Also, he doubts that the shore was part of the guy's actual territory. He's a fish! What would he need a territory on land for?

Eijirou grumbles as he stretches out his limbs, the hardening of his scales sending ripples throughout his body before turning back to normal. There's no way his territory can stretch so far too, he pouts. He even made the effort to find a place where he won't disturb the angry puffball. All that effort only to cross paths with the guy he's evading again.

Izuku looks over his body a little more, poking some scales here and there and talking non-stop. The man is nice, Eijirou thinks. Not like the other bunch who keeps on trying to hunt him for the hell of it. Keyword 'trying'. He hates those guys. They keep hunting in the area and Eijirou's just left with small monsters for sustainance. Well, those things aren't gonna sate his appetite so now, he has to fly long lengths to actually spot some medium monsters for proper food.

Soon enough, the sky is turning orange and the sun is nearly setting. Izuku and Denki leaves the meat, saying that they'll check on it tomorrow if it's dry enough. They say their goodbyes and Eijirou is left with a nagging voice, saying that he should go hunt later for a midnight snack despite having a big, hearty meal earlier.

He listens to it.

The next day, Izuku wakes up to a Katsuki with puffy cheeks, sulking and grumbling to himself as he gnaws on a small piece of meat by the shore.

Well, that's quite a sight to see in an early morning walk.

"Good morning, Kacch... Kacchan?!" Izuku's greeting turns into an exclamation of surprise when Katsuki tries to jam the whole thing in his mouth, looking as alarmed as him. He looks like a hamster except he doesn't have the capability to store food in his cheeks for later.

Recognizing the man, Katsuki slowly brings the food out, grimacing at how his own saliva coats it. He dips it into the water before splaying it on the shore again, patting it.

Izuku blinks at the weird behavior. Suddenly, he recognizes the meat as the same shark monster from yesterday.

"You still haven't finished it up, Kacchan?" He asks and freezes when the sea monster glares at him, an impressive grimace on his face with his earfins flared and shaking in anger. He motions to a general direction and Izuku turns to look.

There's nothing special at first sight but when he looks closely, he quickly recognizes large, dragonic footprints.

"D-did Eijirou come here again?"

Katsuki blinks at him before the question registers. This miniature broccoli knows that asshole?!

The ashen blonde angrily lifts himself up and glares down Izuku, making the greenette cower from below him. Izuku yelps and stutters. "H-he's really a good guy, Kacchan!! He won't tresspass in your territory without a reason, I'm sure!!" He tries to explain but receives a roar and a hand slamming down the small piece of meat.

Wait... small piece of meat?

Izuku blanches in realization. "Wait, did he eat the meat you saved?!" As if screaming at him that he's right, Katsuki lets out an angry roar, making Izuku immediately cover his ears. The birds nearby fly away in terror and the other creatures in the area hides.

As if he's tired at himself for being angry, he plops down on the shore and weakly glares at what's left of his saved meal, nibbling at it. Izuku frowns and looks around the area for more clues when he sees other footprints, far from what Eijirou's look like. He recognizes them and whips his head towards Katsuki, searching his body and finding a rip on one of the large fins on his back.

"Wh-what happened to you, Kacchan?!" Izuku worriedly asks.

Katsuki blinks at him and tries to recall.

It was deep in the night when Katsuki decided to take the meat out, leaving it near the geyser during the day. When he brings it to the shore to eat, he sees the telltale trail of the red of a Nargacuga's eyes in the woods.

Katsuki's fins flare, leaving the sea to defend the small portion of his territory outside of the water.

He rounds the shore, checking for any threats. When he feigns turning around to return, the giant bat strikes. The Nargacuga's claws and his flared fins cross together with a clang, the attacker sent away because of the impact.

Bakugou's eyes glint a dangerous crimson, coiling the length of his tail under him before launching himself towards the intruder.

Okay, he may have gone out of his territory during the fight and a little deeper into the woods while chasing the guy but in his defense, other monsters ain't gonna learn unless you beat the information into their skulls.

He may be a sea serpent but he also highly prides himself for being able to handle battles outside of the water, albeit he has to dip his hands and body after a while because if not, the explosions from his palms start to feel too hot and sting so he has to make them weaker lest he burns himself. His fins get weaker the drier they are too. When he thinks that the Nargacuga has run far enough, he goes back to the shore only to see a red asshole eating his fish meat.

There was a moment of silence between the two, the frozen redhead staring at him mid-bite like an idiot. The serpent slowly looks down at his saved meat, or what's left of it, before he feels his core heat up in rage. 

He coils his tail behind him and, unexpectedly, the dragon leaps towards him with a shriek. Wait, no... the shriek... came from behind him.

Katsuki wasn't even able to fully turn around yet when he feels something pierce one of his dry back fins. It's one of the Nargacuga's tail spines which it uses for artillery. He recoils with a gasp, tail uncoiling as he falls into a heap. He turns his head to see the rest of the spines get blocked by a hardened wing. A talon quickly yet carefully coils around his thin waist and the next thing he knows, he's thrown into the water, catching a glimpse of the dragon using the momentum of his throw to hit the Narga with his hardened tail.

Something boils in him and he gets more pissed off. He resurfaces, slamming his webbed hands on the shore. He flares his fins and shakes them, flinching when he feels the cut the Nargacuga made. The Nargacuga takes notice of this but before it can launch itself near him, the damned dragon slams it away with his body. Katsuki grits his teeth.

He can protect his territory on his own and he doesn't need anyone else's help. Go away, urchin hair.

The sea monster roars and crawls out of the water, slithering on the ground. Alarmed, the dragon gets out of the way. Good, stay away and don't even think of stepping in Katsuki's fight, asshole.

Katsuki uses an explosion from one arm to propel himself forward and uses the other to unleash a barrage. The Narga evades but his tail gets caught, not strong enough to sever it off though. Raged, it tries to counter attack but the shitty dragon steps over him, using his hardened wings as a makeshift shield.

Ugh, fine! If he insists to take the attacks for himself then he can go shove it down his throat all he wants!

Katsuki coils around the dragon... Eijirou, or whatever freckled-man-broccoli calls him, flinches and steps back in panic. Katsuki sees an opening between Eijirou's wings and leaps forward, sending a loud explosion right at the Narga's face.

The explosion recoils him back towards the unaffected Eijirou and he immediately coils around him again, the dragon slamming his hardened wings close together as the Nargacuga leaps after the ashen blonde, succeeding in crashing the monster's head in-between.

The Nargacuga howls in pain and staggers back, its world spinning. Katsuki raises himself up on Eijirou's back, hands clamped on the dragon's shoulders and tail coiled around his chest, his fins doing their signature rattle.

The sea monster smirks. At least the dragon proves himself to be a steed that doesn't break down.

With what seems to be the last ounce of its energy, the Nargacuga raises its wings and leaps towards the woods, not trusting itself to fly in its bad condition.

Eijirou looks like he wants to chase after it so Katsuki lets go. It's not like he needed any of his help or anything but he still helped so he might as well consider letting him live instead of finishing him off.

Katsuki retreats back to the water and Eijirou gives him one last look before he launches himself to the sky. Then, the ashen blonde remembers the food he's supposed to be eating.

There's only a block of it left. He feels the reasoning for letting Eijirou go slip out of his brain and turn into rage. That giant beast of a glutton..!!!

He seethes, hands shaking from absolute anger. A deep growl emits from his throat as he splits the thing in half so that he can still have it as breakfast tomorrow morning before he goes out to hunt.

And then, morning comes and he feels hungry as all hell then discovers that the marine life around him has migrated weeks ahead of usual due to the faster approaching winter.

Yeah, he's pissed. Damn nature, changing schedules in the last minute.

So now, he's sprawled on the shore, nibbling at a small block of meat, and waiting for a certain redhead to fly by so he can lure him in.

No, he's not waiting to thank him, he's waiting because he wants to beat his ass up for eating most of the monster he took ages to hunt and then use his meat as a food reserve for the whole of winter!!

There's a possibility that his meat is as tough as his skin but that's not something a few explosions can't fix.

Izuku worriedly looks at Katsuki and the ashen blonde blinks. Ah, yeah, there's no way he'll be able to tell the whole of that 28-paragraph story to broccoli right here. 

Damn nature, giving him a human appearance but not giving him the vocal organs for actual human speech.

He decides that trying to explain a thing to Izuku is a waste of energy so he goes back to nibbling his food and ignores the human instead. Seeing that Katsuki has lost interest in him, Izuku tries to track the Nargacuga's footprints instead.

The clues he'd found, which consists of the Narga's actual tracks and scratches and a familiar someone's talon marks, leads him to Eijirou's cave. He crossed paths with Denki along the way and now, the two of them nervously treks up to check on the dragon.

Before they can even reach the entrance, they catch sight of Eijirou preparing to take flight. "Ah, Eijirou!" A call from Izuku stops his tracks and he skids on the rocky surface, almost falling over the edge. "S-sorry, Eijirou! I didn't mean to surprise... you...," Izuku trails off upon reaching the cave entrance.

There, near the edge, is the decapitated carcass of the Nargacuga, some parts looking gnawed or pulled at. Huh, he must've tried eating it. Sadly, the Nargacuga is too boney and thick-skinned to contain a reasonable amount of fat and meat. It's not for the impatient type of eaters like Eijirou who just wants to be able to swallow meat the moment they chomp down.

It's still intact enough for Izuku to carve it for materials though.

After asking Eijirou for permission, Izuku gets to work. Looking around, Denki notices that there are smaller monster bones that weren't there before. Ah, he must've just decided to hunt some more instead of continuing with the Narga.

Izuku looks up to Eijirou after carving, the red dragon curiously peeking over the now cleanly cut Narga. The greenette leaves the carved materials aside and checks if the fish from yesterday is dry.

It's still not, huh. There's plenty of time left for the day but they don't really have anything to do so Izuku decides to follow Eijirou, planning to study his ecology and mannerisms.

But it turns out that Eijirou doesn't have any other plans for the day too.

So here he is, by the campsite, lazing under the sun as Izuku sketches out the data he's gathered about him so far. "Do you do other stuff other than hunting, Eijirou?" Izuku asks, trying to spur the red dragon to action. Eijirou wonders...

Other than following stuff he's curious about and gnawing on rocks to make his teeth stronger... he doesn't really do anything else, really. There's the obligatory 'protect his territory' thing but he considers it as a part of his hunt too, nothing beats the sweet taste of victory over those who dare trudge over his territory. The challenge of overpowering them makes eating feel much more savory.

Except that Narga. He hates that Narga. There's nothing in there to eat and it attacked while Katsuki has his back turned against him too. Talk about unmanly. Whatever it thinks of achieving by trespassing in a place like this, Eijirou doesn't know.

Speaking of territory... Katsuki really takes protecting his territory to the extreme, huh. He even went as far as going into the woods to chase the Narga away, despite being a sea monster! That guy is so manly!

Yeah, he's stubborn and greedy at times but Eijirou can't help but feel a strong sense of admiration towards him after last night. They were quite a good team if he can say so himself.

Right, he got hurt yesterday, didn't he? Eijirou knows Katsuki can handle himself but it won't hurt checking up on him, yeah? He'll make it quick, just a little glimpse to see what the ashen blonde is doing and then he's out.

Izuku looks up when Eijirou suddenly rises from his sprawled out position, dusting off himself with a little shake of his wings before taking off.

The greenette quickly stands up, grabs his notebook and moves to follow when Denki blocks him and motions to his back. "Can I really, Denki??" Izuku beams before carefully climbing up the Kirin. Denki dashes to the direction where Eijirou is headed, the greenette immediately grabbing on his shoulders so he won't slip away.

Katsuki opens his eyes and blinks, greeted by the sight of a few birds hopping around him and resting on his body. Ah, he must've dozed after eating. He sits up from his position on the shore and stretches, bones popping. The birds fly away upon his wake and he watches them leave.

He sighs at the blue sky and lets himself fall on his back, eyebrow twitching as he feels the annoying telltale itch of the barnacles on his back hitting the stones on the shore. It's about time to remove them, huh?

He looks at the waterfall, noting the raging waters. Perfect. The ashen blonde sluggishly moves towards it and drenches himself under the strong spray of falling water, eyes going half-lidded.

The feeling of water falling over him relaxes his muscles and calms him down. He adjusts himself so the water falls straight on his back, the strong impact loosening the barnacles' attachment and sending some of them falling away. With a few swift swipes of his fins, the pesky things are off.

Katsuki closes his eyes and sighs at the feeling of having the stupid things finally removed. It feels like heaven. He tilts his head to the side to loosen his muscles under the spray of water, his own hands roaming on his skin. It's been quite long since he last did this so he figures he'll stay to relax under the waterfall for a while.

Eijirou feels his mouth hang open. 

He came here to peek at what the ashen blonde is doing and arrived to see a sight he doesn't know if his eyes are worthy enough to behold. Katsuki's scales glint like diamonds under the bright sun, producing a light effect paired with the water which makes him look as if he's literally glowing.

His own hands lazily roams across his body as he bathes himself. Why he has to do that when he's pretty much living in the water, Eijirou doesn't know, but damn if it doesn't look like the most gorgeous sight he's ever seen in his entire life.

Katsuki brings the rest of his tail under the strong shower of water and runs his hands over it before stretching his fins. A small rainbow forms beside him under the waterfall and he looks absolutely breathtaking. Eijirou feels his face grow hot as butterflies start to flutter in his chest.

Izuku and Denki finally arrive only to look at Eijirou, confused. They dashed here as fast as they can, wishing they won't miss anything important, only to see the dragon hiding behind big rocks, unmoving. Has he spotted something to hunt or...?

The two smaller men turn their heads to follow the sight where Eijirou's dazed eyes are fixated and sees Katsuki washing himself. Izuku quickly writes it down. So this is how Katsuki removes the barnacles from his back, huh.

The sea monster bathing under the raging waterfall doesn't really strike one as interesting enough to watch though, Royal Ludroths do something similar to that too after all, so why is Eijirou hiding? Still confused, they turn back to Eijirou to see his eyes follow the way Katsuki's hand moves down, pursing his dry lips.

Katsuki arches his back to let the water fall over his chest, brushing the weeks of accumulated sea grime off with his webbed hands. He moves to rest on his back as he raises his tail, moving his hands to massage over the scales. The grip of Eijirou's wing claws on the rock tightens.

Without warning, Eijirou slips down and quietly sets off. The other two could only blink in confusion.

Izuku thinks about approaching Katsuki but remembers how bad his mood was earlier so he decides against it. After a few, Eijirou comes flying back and catches Katsuki's attention.

About time, porcupine. He's been waiting so long he fell asleep! He readies himself, tail coiling under him, when Eijirou unceremoniously dumps five small Ludroths by the shore. The dragon lands and looks at him expectantly.

Katsuki blinks at him before slowly looking down the monsters. What exactly is he going to do with these?

Eijirou pushes the Ludroths closer with his nose and looks up at him from his low position.

????? ????? ?????

Katsuki gives him a confused grimace. Are these... supposed to be an apology gift or something? Katsuki scoffs. As if he's going to accept such little offerings! He angrily shoves the Ludroths away before crossing his arms, chin high.

Eijirou stills before nodding to himself, taking flight once again.

...What on earth is he doing? Izuku wonders. The next one takes him some time, to the point that Izuku and Denki decided to have lunch nearby, the greenette setting up a BBQ spit and the Kirin nibbling on some herbs Sero gave him earlier.

The body of a Royal Ludroth lands down the shore with a heavy thud, jostling the other unmoving monsters Eijirou deposited there earlier. That one's huge, bigger than the one he and Katsuki fought about before.

Katsuki frowns at it and waves it away. No way is he going to eat something like a smelly Royal Ludroth. He doubts that thing's flesh can even be stored.

...Well, maybe it can be but he just doesn't like the taste of Ludroths in general.

Eijirou gives him a sad frown. Why doesn't he like it? It's big, full of meat and easy to eat. Maybe he just doesn't feel like it? Come to think of it, he also didn't eat the Royal Ludroth they fought before. Maybe... he doesn't like yellow?

The dragon tries pushing the body near Katsuki but the sea monster makes a face and moves away.

He doesn't want yellow...

Nodding to himself again, Eijirou raises his wings and takes flight. Katsuki looks up to watch him leave. The guy's really serious about this apology thing, huh.

Eijirou returns faster this time, a huge Aptonoth in his claws and another in his jaws. He sets them in-front of Katsuki, distancing them from the Ludroths.

Katsuki examines them. Hm, they're not all that special but they're food. Not as much food as what Eijirou took from him but he guesses the dragon can pay him back little by little.

He accepts them and pulls them closer before eating. Eijirou grins and moves the Ludroths away. It's lunch time already so he might as well eat the monsters he intended to give to Katsuki; he doesn't want them yellow anyways.

Katsuki feels full by the time he's finished with one of the Aptonoths and figures he should store the other one for later. Winter will come soon and it will be harder to find smaller monsters to eat. Before he can move, Eijirou gives him a weird howl.

He blinks and looks back at the dragon.

Eijirou lowers his head before pushing himself up, spreading his wings out and giving a few strong flaps. Despite the strength of the wind, he doesn't take off and stays rooted on the ground. He slams his claws down and raises his tail before hardening his body as best as he can.

His scales harden to the point they look like small spires, the glow under his skin making him look all the more intimidating. The crackling of unbreakable defense and muscle gives him a dangerous and powerful aura that no other monster would dare challenge.

Despite this, Katsuki doesn't budge. He knows he won't attack, the position of his body says as much. The urchin head is showing off.

Izuku blinks at the sight in front of him. "Oh, I know this. I feel like I've read about this before," he holds a finger against his chin, trying to recall. Denki turns to him when he perks up.

"Ah, that's right! It's a book about courtships and the like, I think? When a male monster courts, they bring gifts and show off the extent of their strength to prove themselves worthy of... being chosen as a... mate..." Izuku trails off as the information slowly sinks in.

Oh. 

Oh.

OH.

Denki gapes and Izuku shrinks, face flushing. Is that why Eijirou looks so lost while watching Katsuki bathe earlier? He was finding him attractive? Izuku can't fault him though; it's no lie that Kacchan looks really gorgeous.

The greenette didn't even think such a thing could be possible between two gigantic creatures of different species. How are they even going to- wait, scratch that, Izuku doesn't think he wants to think about it... But he still has to document this and write down the data so he guesses there’s no other choice.

Eijirou’s purpose, however, seems lost on Katsuki as the ashen blonde just blinks at him as he *flexes*. Kinda. He thinks that hardening of skin he’s doing could be considered as flexing or something. Izuku sighs, feeling a little sorry for Eijirou but still understanding where Katsuki is coming from. They’re of different species so it’s obvious how Katsuki wouldn’t understand what the other is doing.

The dragon lowers his torso to the ground and raises his hardened tail, showing the dangerous spikes off and waving it from side to side. Eijirou looks at him expectantly with big eyes and a little tinge of what the ashen blonde can translate as nervousness.

Among the other males of his species, Eijirou can say that his tail is above average size, bigger than most of his kind that he’s ever seen. The question is: Will Katsuki also think that his tail is big? He’s from a different species but he can be impressed with things like this, right?

Katsuki raises an eyebrow and smirks, seemingly taking it as a challenge. He raises his tail and copies what Eijirou is doing before slamming it down the shore, getting tons of water everywhere. Eijirou freezes. Katsuki is a sea monster so, of course, his tail is a lot bigger.

He chose an angle so that his scales will glisten like diamonds when he raises it again, making his tail twinkle under the sun. It’s not as menacing or dangerous looking as the dragon’s but that doesn’t mean he can’t show it off. The ashen blonde looks at Eijirou with a smug face. 

Shitty hair. Your tail is small.

The response, however, makes Katsuki freeze. Eijirou looks crestfallen, eyes widening before looking down, his scales unhardening and tail lowering dejectedly. Like a kicked puppy except the puppy has wings and dangerous claws and scales and is also the size of a house... So... Not really a puppy but still looking very sad nonetheless.

Eijirou was about to turn away when Katsuki pushes his tail forwards to drench the sad dragon with water. Shocked, the redhead turns to the ashen blonde and meets a smug grin, the sea monster waving his outstretched tail from side to side. He winds it back before sending another strong wave of water towards the other.

This time, Eijirou got to evade to the side. Confused, he looks up at Katsuki to see the other’s body bent forward, tail waving behind him playfully. Eijirou blinks. Didn’t he reject him earlier? Now he suddenly wants to play?

Katsuki whips his tail out and the redhead evades just as the ashen blonde predicted. Katsuki lunges forward and coils around the dragon before giving him a strong tug, sending him out of balance and falling into the water. Eijirou holds his breath, cheeks puffed. The sea monster laughs at him and pokes his cheeks, sending big bubbles of air out.

Shaking his head and pouting, the dragon flaps his wings and swims out, clawing on the shore and taking a big gulp of air before twisting his tail to try and hit the ashen blonde back. The other just pokes his head out of the water and laughs at him before draping his torso back on the shore with a mischievous grin.

Eijirou feels his dejection melt away, an easy smile settling on his face before it morphs into a smirk. Before Katsuki knows it, he’s being pulled into the air. He manages to wiggle his way out of the dragon’s grip and uses his tail to send more water towards the redhead. The wave was sent so far that Izuku has to block the BBQ spit in fear of it reaching them and putting the fire out.

Soon enough, the two big monsters were rolling around the shore in a mess of roaring laughter, wiggling tails, and giant splashes. Izuku sighs with a fond smile on his face. Denki blinks and sweats, it’s great that they’re getting along and all but the sight of two huge creatures playing around makes the herbivore in him nervous.

Some curious creatures have gathered behind Izuku and Denki, watching the two play around. Izuku warmly smiles at them and throws them some of his food. Everyone’s enjoying and it was all fun and games until Eijirou manages to pin Katsuki down and, in a laughing fit, Katsuki whips his tail towards Eijirou’s face.

The dragon playbites.

Katsuki gasps and freezes, making Eijirou freeze too. Izuku stills mid-bite, shocked, and everyone in the vicinity stops breathing, as if waiting for a barrel bomb to explode. Eijirou blanches. Was it... Too much?

Eijirou looks over and realizes that his teeth are nestled into the base of Katsuki’s scales, almost touching the flesh underneath. He slowly pulls back, mind running in overdrive.

He didn’t expect that to happen! He thought for sure that Katsuki’s tail scales are fully fortified. The ashen blonde’s tail doesn’t even get the slightest hint of a scratch when he coils around him when his body is hardened so his teeth suddenly puncturing into them is a shock.

Ah, right. He belatedly remembers that he gnaws on rocks to keep them strong and sharp.

He frowns and licks Katsuki’s tail apologetically, rough tongue gliding over the punctures, when he feels the monster under him shake. Eijirou straightens up and blinks, he would’ve sweated bullets if he’s able to but alas, he’s a reptile. Did he somehow manage to piss him off more?

In one swift movement, Katsuki slams a fin into Eijirou’s face and grabs on the Aptonoth gift from earlier before diving deep into the water. Eijirou sits up, flabbergasted, and stares at the water.

What just happened?

Izuku sees that as a sign to approach and pats Eijirou’s wing, catching the dragon’s attention. “It was brave of you to try, Eijirou, but Katsuki didn’t understand that you were courting. He must’ve thought that you wanted to play so he let you play with him,” Izuku sheepishly smiles. Eijirou blinks and his face brightens up in realization.

So he wasn’t dumped?! He gives the greenette a toothy smile and leans down to rub his face against him. Izuku laughs, patting his scales. The dragon looks over the water again and cocks his head to the side. He now knows that he wasn’t rejected but Katsuki’s sudden leave makes him pout. Maybe he did get really pissed from the bite... and to think that he licked him afterwards to boot!

He doesn’t know a lot- scratch that- he doesn’t know anything about Katsuki’s species actually so he doesn’t know if he just leaped through some boundaries with what he just did. He’ll keep that in mind when they play next time but for now...

Eijirou looks over Izuku and smiles. He’ll have to know what kind of gifts the ashen blonde would like.

Katsuki puts the Aptonoth in his cove and huffs, his cheeks flushing after a few beats.

There’s no way, right?! There’s just... no way!!!

He gets a flashback of Eijirou’s rough tongue running over his tail, the organ dipping along the scales and lapping at the bite mark he himself caused, eyes roaming at his pinned down body. He throws the Aptonoth in rage. (A/N: the Eijirou in Katsuki’s flashback might be a little different due to certain circumstances, mainly Katsuki’s wild imagination.)

The sea monster groans, letting himself sink into the water so he can cool down.

Biting, licking and everything mouth related is a big deal for his species. What Eijirou just did... was a declaration of love. And it wasn’t just any declaration of love, hell, if it were anything normal like that, he wouldn’t be here wiggling like an idiot!

When their species court each other, they fight, all sharp fins and claws and teeth. The true main goal is to win but there’s also the option to leave a bite on the other’s tail and, knowing their species, such a thing is almost impossible. Their scales are known to be hard enough to not get easily pierced by any natural occurring thing so actually being able to leave a scratch on their scales is a great feat in itself but actually being able to bite into them and leave teeth marks? Not just anyone can do that, which means, you’re stupidly strong.

And what do their species look for in a partner? Someone stupidly strong.

Katsuki feels his face get warmer just by thinking about it. Eijirou is an idiot but damn if that bite didn’t make his heart skip a beat. Not to mention that he even licked him afterwards! LICKED HIM!!! They’re not even doing a courting ritual yet and he already marked him! So he thinks he owns him now?! HUH?!?! Goddamn, that’s manly as fuck!!! HHHNNNNGGGGG!!!

He lets out a frustrated roar as he slides down to the bottom of his cove, tail wagging giddily from side to side. Wait, what? Giddily?! Hell no! He’s angry!! ANGRY!! He lets out a few angry explosions as he angrily slams his tail down the cove floor and lets out an angry squeal.

He has to think straight about this. The dragon is dumb and he may not know what he just did. Yeah, that’s right. Come to think about it, he was all showing off and wagging his tail earlier and Katsuki did not know what he was trying to say.

Again: Damn nature. Making them both look human but not allowing them to communicate properly.

Katsuki takes some time to think about it and comes to the sanest conclusion: the dumb dragon didn’t know what the action means and he just did it in a spur of a moment thing. That still does not properly explain the tail wagging stuff that Eijirou did before that but he figured earlier that he may have just wanted to play with him.

Do other adult monsters that size even play around like they did anymore?

At least he’s calm now. Sighing to himself, he swims back to the edge of the water and hefts himself up, dragging the Aptonoth from wherever he threw it back to the cove’s shore. He starts cleaning the meat, removing the skin, bones, and other parts he doesn’t like eating before gathering the leftovers and swimming out, throwing them away. Little carnivorous fishes quickly swim to get their share of the food and Katsuki watches them for a while before deciding to head back to the cove.

On his way back, he notices something small swimming towards him.

Is that... Izuku?

The panicking Izuku quickly latches onto him and Katsuki clicks his tongue in irritation, fanning the small carnivorous fish away. The sea monster looks at Izuku in question and belatedly remembers that humans can’t speak underwater. Katsuki sighs and takes a healthy looking leaf from the giant kelp nearby before swimming back to his cove.

Izuku gasps out of the water and hefts himself up to the cove shore before freezing when he sees Katsuki settled on a pile of rocks, biting a chunk from the kelp leaf and eating.

“Kacchan, you’re an omnivore?!” he near screams and Katsuki tsks in irritation, flicking his tail to throw some water over the human. “Wai-Wha-! Kacchan!! Hold it!” he panics, running away to a drier part of the cove.

He pouts and puts his hands on his hips. “I’m here to help you, you know? I figured that most of the smaller marine monsters have migrated because of the earlier winter so I told Eijirou just that but... Finding out that you can eat kelp makes me feel kinda guilty,” he sighs and earns a raised eyebrow from Katsuki.

“He went off to find suitable gifts for you, actually. He got more pumped about it when I told him that you need to have a stash ready for winter. I figured you’re a carnivore so I told him about a few monsters you might like and where to find them,” he explains but that doesn’t answer what Katsuki’s question is.

Izuku notices Katsuki’s confused expression and the greenette gives a sly grin.

“Right, didn’t you know? That scale hardening and tail wagging Eijirou was doing in-front of you earlier was a courting ritual! It’s not winter yet but spring is already coming for you, huh, Kacchan?” he teases with a giggle.

Katsuki feels the earlier warmth from his face creep back and his mouth hangs open, heart beating harder than it ever did for throughout his years.

He slams his hands down the cove shore, making Izuku jump back in surprise.

Excuse me, what?! Did he actually know what he was doing?!

No, that doesn’t sound right, he’s sure he doesn’t... But then, that makes the biting and licking thing too much of a coincidence! There’s no way!

“K-kacchan?” Izuku calls but was met with deaf ears as the sea monster rolls around the cove, hands hiding his face. Oh my, is Katsuki really this flustered because of the information? This is the first time he’s ever seen him like this!

Before he can say anything else, Katsuki suddenly rights himself and slams a fist down. Despite his intimidating frown, the human can’t take him seriously because of the flush decorating his face.

Katsuki huffs to himself. Just because he managed to give him a bite mark doesn’t mean he’s winning him that easily! He better give him tons and tons of good gifts and prove himself worthy!!

Izuku smiles up at the seething ashen blonde before giving a fond sigh. This will be a long little journey before winter so he better ready more pages in his notebooks. There’s never been an instance of different species courting another, not that he’s ever heard of, so he’s pretty sure there’s going to be a ton to write.

The sea monster pouts to himself and lets his body fall on the cove floor, tail swishing around. He turns a little and notices the Aptonoth meat that Eijirou gave him earlier. He purses his lips and pokes it, face flushing a little. Izuku can’t help but let out a laugh and Katsuki glares at him, moving his hand to smush Izuku’s face between his thumb and index finger for teasing him. It only makes the greenette laugh harder.

Little moments like this, along with many others, is the reason why Izuku chose this line of work. He can't wait to jot down what happens next!