Chapter Text
Eijirou loved humans. He loved them from their cute faces to their tiny toes. Eijirou loved them, so much. Or, at least, the idea of them.
You see; Eijirou's family were not very fond of the human race. In fact, his whole clan wasn’t. Well, aside from his friends, Mina and Denki, of course. Eijirou had taught them to love them. Constantly rambling on about how cool humans were, learning their language, always talking about how much he'd love to see one in person. His friends became interested in them, and joined him on his quest;
To Meet and Befriend a Human!!
Even at age twenty two in dragon years (2200 in human years), Eijirou was still bad at names, and hadn't changed that.
Originally, Eijirou's best friends had come from another clan. He wasn't sure which, nobody was, but they had been found as young dragons at the ages of around four and three. Eijirou had been six at the time, but when the two children had been taken in by his clan, injured and weak, he immediately wanted to help them.
This feeling of wanting to help became helping, then wanting to be friends, then being friends.
A few years passed of them messing around, and their powers developed.
And what was Eijirou's?
Why, it was shape-shifting!
From what to what?
From dragon to human!!
It was Eijirou's dream come true. Apparently, it was his friends' too, considering the fact that they both started screaming about how envious they were of him, and asking if they could see his alternate from once he'd told them.
It took Eijirou a while to become used to and to develop things for his power; mastering the art of clothes-making (He used his scales to add a bit of a personal touch, and to make the base of the outfits themselves, hunted for animal pelt, and gathered wool to create as strong a string as he was able) to add diversity to his wardrobe, getting used to making clothes using his body, extending the amount of time he could stay in his human form, and making sure to practice hiding his horns, wings, and tail whenever they happened to pop out due to his strong emotions. He managed that last one eventually, but it took years. Sometimes, even now, he finds himself becoming overly enthusiastic about something, and then, all of a sudden – poof! His tail is out, wagging about like a dog's.
It happened rather frequently when Eijirou would start conversations about humans with Denki (Who had developed electricity powers, by the way. How electrifying!) and Mina (Who had acid powers. Quirky!). They always told him: "Eijirou, your tail's wagging again!", or "Eijirou! Your horns!" "Your wings!" "Your tongue! Humans' tongues aren't long and forked!" Yes, Eijirou was one of the few dragons he knew with a tongue akin to a snake's. It was rather inconvenient if you thought about it. But, he always tried to fix his dragon-body-parts-appearing-when-in-human-form incidents as fast as he could, so it was okay.
Why did he have to be fast?
It was part of their quest.
What part?
Well, that brings us to now.
Eijirou was walking to the nearest human village, which was rather far away from his clan's cave, so the walk there was rather excruciating. It was okay, though, as Eijirou was determined as ever.
The first part of him, Mina, and Denki's quest was in progress, and going well. Mostly. Eijirou was panting, and a little wobbly. He wasn't used to walking for so long in his human form, and, god, maybe he should've practiced more, because he was really running out of breath now.
As he walked, he could feel his wings sprout out of his back, his horns come out from his head. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. He should've practiced more, he should've tried harder, left it for longer, and-
He stopped in his tracks.
There was a human in front of his very eyes, carrying a bag full of gold.
He looked at Eijirou, blinking.
The first thing Eijirou noticed was how beautiful his eyes were. A dark, enticing crimson colour, akin to Eijirou's, and yet not at all at the same time. They had a different energy to them, one that lured him in in the best way.
The second thing he noticed was the pretty face he had. At the moment, he looked confused, but it didn't dampen his natural beauty.
The third thing he noticed was his hair. A beautiful blond colour; it reminded him of gold.
The fourth thing he noticed was his body. Built, and yet, in contrast, his skin was soft-looking. Eijirou kind of wanted to lick it.
The fifth thing he noticed was how attracted to him he felt. Was that even allowed? A human and a dragon? Well, technically he was partly human now, so maybe?
Either way, Eijirou swore all his years spent learning English had been thrown out of the window.
"U-Uh-" He stuttered, looking around nervously.
"What the fuck? Why do you have-" The man in front of him asked, then his eyes widened. "Dragon."
Eijirou became panicked. "N-No, I- it's just a costume, man.."
The human raised a brow, but his body seemed to relax. He must've thought, Oh, he knows English, he must be human.
Or...something like that. Maybe.
Okay, maybe not, but for the most part he seemed to buy it nevertheless, despite the lingering suspicion in his eyes.
Eijirou smiled, "S-So, um, what're you doing out here?" He asked, tilting his head.
The blonde raised a brow. "Lookin' for dragons to steal shit from. I mean, you think my reaction earlier was for no reason? And this?" He held up his bag of gold. "I didn't get this from nowhere." He seemed proud of himself.
Eijirou's face paled slightly as he thought about it for a moment. "Y..You..only steal from them, right? You don't- hurt them...right?"
The other looked offended. "What? So what if I have? Before, that is...I don't do it now. I don't really..." He looked around to see if anybody was watching, "..Like hurting them. It's more of a reputation thing. Fuck, just don't say anything about it to anyone. About...you know. Me doing it just for reputation. Nobody'll touch my shit if I give them a reason not to. That's why I did it." He stopped for a moment to take a long breath, then continued.
"I used to do it quite a lot, actually, so much so that I get called the 'Dragon Slayer' by the dumbasses in villages. They don't even know anything about who I actually am. It's kind of funny; there are rumors about me that say I cook and eat the dragons I kill, but I have enough gold and jewels to get food whenever. Plus, I'd probably throw it back up if I did. Dragon meat's expensive, and supposedly good, but..I don't think I'd be able to keep it down with...the fucking- you know." The blonde looked as if he were regretting opening his mouth.
"..Guilt." Eijirou filled in.
"Fuck- yeah, that. I can tell you like dragons. Or maybe you are one, but- don't let this shit get to you. I'm done with it anyway." The human grumbled.
"Hey." Eijirou said, "What's your name?"
"..Why do you want to know?" The man shot a glare at Eijirou.
Eijirou hesitated for a moment, before replying, "Because I'm gonna be staying with you and making sure you don't hurt anymore of u- anymore dragons."
"What? Fuck off." The blonde growled.
Everything was silent for a moment, and Eijirou's brow was raised.
"..Fucking- fine. It's Bakugou."
Oh fuck. Eijirou knew about him.
"...You're Bakugou. Bakugou Katsuki? Shit- I- I have to go." Eijirou began to walk away, slightly terrified.
Bakugou Katsuki was indeed a well-known dragon slayer; in fact, he was the well-known dragon slayer, emphasis on the 'the'. His parents had told him to stay clear of humans in general, but never did they ever fail to stress that he was the worst out of all of them, and that Eijirou should run if he saw him, no matter what he said.
Bakugou made a frustrated sound. "Oi! Prick, where the fuck do you think you’re going??" By the sounds of it, he was walking towards Eijirou.
Eijirou broke off into a sprint. He lost control of his powers at that moment, and stumbled, then changed into his normal form involuntarily. He got back up, and kept running, his breath slowly running out. He'd already been walking for ages previously, and this wasn't really helping his feeling of exhaustion.
Nevertheless, he kept running. That was, until he realized something. He stopped suddenly, and felt Bakugou bump into his tail, then heard a thud, but paid no mind to it.
Mina and Denki had told him not to look back when he decided and told them that he was ready to attempt to complete their quest, but..there he had been, running away from what he wanted most.
Running away from what all three of them wanted. What they'd worked for, and waited for, for years.
That wasn't manly at all.
He slowly turned around to a hurt Bakugou. He had fallen, and cut his hands quite badly on some sharp rocks. He seemed not to care, yet he was wincing.
Eijirou gently nuzzled him, then began to focus. He changed into his human form, and made sure to create a bandage-like scarf that wrapped around his arm. He unwrapped it, then went closer to Bakugou.
"Sorry, here, let me-"
"Don't fucking touch me! Fuck- why'd you run away?" Bakugou looked as if he were offended again. "I told you about my secrets, and you just- leave? Were you gonna tell other people? Your dragon friends back at home?" Bakugou growled.
"Listen here, man, I don't want to tell anyone about who you are, not if it makes you uncomfortable. If what you say is true, then I won't say a word. But..I'd like it if you'd stop stealing things from dragons. I can get you gold and all that, if you want it...it could be in exchange for your friendship." Eijirou suggested.
Once again, Bakugou looked angry. "What the fuck? You think you can buy my- f- friend-" He spluttered, "Friendship?"
There was a pause, and Bakugou seemed to be thinking.
"You can't buy it, you have to earn it..." He looked unsure. Maybe he'd never had a friend before? The thought made Eijirou frown. It made sense, but- the poor guy.
Eijirou hoped Bakugou was telling the truth about what he had done, and what he does now. He seemed genuine, so Eijirou decided to believe him.
"Alright. So...what now?" Eijirou asked.
"..We travel." Bakugou grumbled.
"Oh, right. But before we do-" Eijirou gently took Bakugou's hands, inspecting them. He let go for a moment, tearing the scarf he had previously created using his scales into two parts. He wrapped one around Bakugou's left hand, then one around his right.
Bakugou just stared at him, eyes wide, and face ablaze.
Eijirou thought it was cute.
He then shook his head, letting go of Bakugou's bandaged up hands, and smiling.
"Lead the way."