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“Kirishima!” someone called almost as soon as they set foot outside the House of Extras in the morning, and Katsuki bristled.
“Mornin’, Sero!” Kirishima waved, and a gangly boy with dark eyes came jogging up. He looked around their age, but stood half a head taller than Katsuki even though he was slouching. Katsuki hated him already.
“Oh, is this the guy that chased you out of the Wolf’s Fang yesterday?” the gangly bastard asked, and Katuski sneered at him.
“Name’s Bakugo, and we’re leaving.” he turned, loosing his grip on his bag just a little so it swung out from his back. Gangly jerked back, so it didn’t hit him in the face, but the almost was satisfying enough.
“Where to?” Gangly asked, falling in step on Kirishima’s other side, and Katsuki wished he had teeth as sharp as his dragon friend’s to scare this loser off.
“We’re headed West, to the Great Evil.” Kirishima answered, and Gangly let out a low whistle.
“Word spread that fast?”
“Word of what?” another boy asked, this one blonde with a dark streak in his hair. Not down the length of it, but cutting across the end of what had probably been bangs a few months ago.
“The prophecy.” Gangly said, and Dye Job whistled.
“Wow, that is fast.”
“What prophecy?” Bakugo snapped at Dumb and Dumber, and two clueless faces turned towards him.
“The one about the Great Evil?” Dye Job said hesitantly.
“Wait, were you going to go out and fight it alone?” Gangly blurted, eyes wide.
“What, you think a dragon and a top notch fire affinity can’t handle it?” he snapped, and Dye Job cackled.
“You were actually going to try it!”
“What, do you two wanna come with?” Kirishima asked, looking more concerned than anything else, which was stupid but so him Katsuki couldn’t even be mad about it.
“Oh, hell yes.” Dye Job’s face split in a wide, stupid smile. “Imagine the look on Toru’s face.”
“She’s gonna be soooo jealous.” Gangly laughed.
“Wait, wait, I never said you could come with!” Katsuki protested, and was once again treated to two clueless townie faces pointed at him.
“Dude, who asked you?” Dye Job asked, and Katsuki’s magic sparked in his palms.
“Guys, remember that partner I said I had before I came here?” Kirishima said before Katsuki could start yelling, grabbing him by the wrist. “This is him. Bakugo, meet Sero and Kaminari. Sero, Kami, meet Bakugo.”
“Wow, he healed up quick.” Sero said, and Katsuki growled at him.
“You doubting the old hag’s magic?”
“Bakugo, chill.” Kirishima huffed, releasing Katuski’s wrist to cross his arms, shoulders taut. “Shuzenji never really came up.”
“Fine, but Gangly and Dye Job ain’t coming with.” he scowled, turning away from the townies as they protested.
“Bakugo, come on.” Kirishima wheedled, grabbing him by the elbow and spinning him around. Behind him, Dye Job was pouting and covering the dark tips of his ex-bangs. “They’re good guys, I did plenty of jobs with them them since I started picking stuff up at the Wolf’s Fang.”
“I thought you said you worked with that Extra who dragged you in from the mountains.” Katsuki scowled at his friend.
“Not all the time.” Kirishima shook his head. “With Sero and Kaminari I could do more dangerous jobs, ones that paid better than the stuff Mr. Ryuusaki and I were doing, even split three ways.” he slid his hand down from Katsuki’s elbow, taking Katsuki’s hand in both his own. “We’ll have to walk there, but isn’t having backup worth the extra time?”
“Plus, if we walk we’ll get there right around the last day of the prophecy!” Gangly chimed in.
“Prophecies are bullshit.” Katsuki scoffed.
“This one is a True Prophecy, though.” Gangly insisted, as if any old Seer couldn’t quick-talk their way into getting certified by the Kingdom’s stupid shitty magic council or whoever it was that decided the reliability of a Seer’s prophecies. “There’s a time and place and everything, and it comes from the Capitol.”
“I trust prophecies from one family and one family only, and none of them live in the Kingdom.” Katsuki crossed his arms, pulling his hand from Kirishima’s. The Shojis had yet to be wrong in their predictions, and Katsuki had a feeling it was related to how they all hid at least half their face but asking would’ve been rude. Their Sight was True and that was all that mattered.
“Does it really matter if you believe the prophecy if everyone else does?” Dye Job asked, and Katsuki shot him a look of confusion. “I mean, everyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes will be there on the day of the prophecy, and King Enji is sending soldiers as well. If you get there too early you’ll face it alone, but if you arrive with everyone else...” he trailed off, and Katsuki nodded slowly.
“There’ll be plenty of meat shields to keep the Great Evil’s minions off of us. Maybe there’s something to bringing you dunces along after all.”
“Bakugo, don’t be rude.” Kirishima laughed. Gangly elbowed Dye Job in the side, and Dye Job rolled his eyes.
“We can chip in for supplies.” Gangly offered, patting the coin purse on his belt.
“Deal.” Katsuki nodded. “But I get final say on the food.”
“He’s picky.” Kirishima stage whispered, and the pair of townies laughed. Katsuki punched him in the side, then grimaced and shook his hand. Stupid dragon toughness.
---
It took some convincing, but Eijirou managed to persuade Bakugo to at least have lunch at the Wolf’s Fang before they hit the road. The food wasn’t great, but it was hot and filling and reasonably cheap. Bakugo all but shoved them out the door as soon as they were all done, and Eijirou let him pout and grumble under his breath on the road until the city walls vanished behind them. Sure enough, as the smells of the city were replaced by dirt and trees and early flowers his friend began to relax. If they were headed towards the mountains instead of away, he’d probably even be smiling.
“So, how much ground are we aiming to cover today?” he asked Sero, who’d pulled out a map and was studying it as they walked, Kaminari prodding him to step around rocks and holes every so often.
“About five leagues I think, if we push it.” Sero answered, not looking up from the map. “We can settle in at eight or nine a day for the rest of the trip and get there a tenday shy of the prophecy.”
“Oooh, there’s a prophecy involved?” Hagakure asked, dropping her magic as she peeked under Sero’s arm to look at the map, and Bakugo swore loudly. Kaminari screamed louder, and Eijirou grabbed Bakugo up in a bear hug before his friend could try to blast Hagakure’s face off.
“You couldn’t’ve asked this before tailing us out of town?” Sero asked, looking under his arm at Hagakure’s faux-innocent smile.
“Well Blasty here looked like he was going to bite your heads off if you didn’t get on the road, so I figured it was better to wait until he calmed down.”
“Fair.” Sero nodded, and Eijirou hiked Bakugo higher in his arms as his friend struggled.
“Fuck you, Miss-Appear, I’ll show you calmed down!”
“Bakugo, no.” Eijirou sighed, and Hagakure giggled as she fell in step with Kaminari, who looked properly sheepish about screaming so loudly.
“Fuck you, Shitty Hair.”
“Oh, so you’re that kind of partners.” Kaminari teased, and Sero hid his grin behind the map but it did nothing for his snigger.
“I can and will let Bakugo blast your face off.” Eijirou deadpanned, and Sero ducked his head as Hagakure laughed out loud.
“You don’t deny it, though!”
“Why the fuck would I sleep with Kirishima?” Bakugo spat, and Eijirou lowered him back to the ground, keeping a hand around his elbow just in case.
“I mean, why wouldn’t you?” Hagakure asked, and Bakugo looked at her like she’d just said something absolutely ridiculous. “He’s a total sweetheart, and buff too.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hagakure.” Eijirou chuckled. “Oh, right, Hagakure, this is Bakugo. Bakugo, this is Hagakure.”
“Hagakure Toru, best shadow-affinity in the business.” she grinned, holding out a hand, and after a moment Bakugo actually took it.
“That was some trick, appearing out of nowhere like that.” he said, and Eijirou’s eyebrows flew nearly to his hairline. Bakugo, outright complimenting someone on their magic? That never happened!
“Thanks. I’ve been working on it a few years now.” Hagakure preened, flicking a lock of golden hair over her shoulder.
“How long does it last?”
“I can hold it all day if it’s just me and stuff I’m carrying, but once I start extending it to other people it drops pretty quick.” she admitted easily, and Bakugo nodded like he was actually listening. This was weird, seriously weird. Eijirou wasn’t sure he liked it. “Most folks don’t like being invisible that much, though, so it’s not a huge problem.”
“Does it hold after you stop touching something? Or, someone I guess.”
“Ehhh.” Hagakure wiggled her hand. “It’s easier if I’m touching what I’m affecting, but I can do contactless with some effort.”
“That’s pretty impressive.” Bakugo nodded, and Eijirou jumped as Sero tapped him on the shoulder.
“Dude, you look like someone stabbed your dog.” he said, soft enough that Bakugo and Hagakure’s conversation would’ve drowned it out if Eijirou didn’t have a dragon’s ears.
“Sorry,” he replied as near to the same volume as he could get. “It’s just-” he gestured subtly at Bakugo and Hagakure. “This doesn’t happen.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Sero grinned, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure you’re still his favourite.”
“Wha-” Eijirou blinked, staring at Sero in complete bafflement.
“He’s not complained about you holding onto his arm yet.” Sero nodded his head at where, true enough, Eijirou still had his hand wrapped loosely around Bakugo’s elbow. Anyone else would’ve gotten smacked by now, if not worse.
“I wasn’t worried, though.” he frowned, and Sero shrugged.
“Suit yourself.” he dropped back a bit more to fall in step with Kaminari, and Eijirou looked at his hand wrapped around Bakugo’s arm. He and Bakugo were partners, and Bakugo had been adamant that that would never change. He released Bakugo’s elbow and threaded his arm through his friend’s.
“Say, Hagakure, you do know we’re headed out to fight the Great Evil, right?” he asked, and her eyes went wide.
“Well I do now!” she crowed, sparks shimmering off her hand as she punched it in the air. “Bragging rights!”
Eijirou laughed, and behind them he heard Sero groan. So maybe they’d have to buy a little more food than they’d planned at the next town, no big deal. Having a master of stealth and surprise like Hagakure around certainly couldn’t hurt their chances in battle, and with the Great Evil they needed every bit of help they could get.
---
“So, what affinities do you two losers have?” Katsuki asked as he sat down by the crackling campfire. The townies had bitched and moaned about not staying at an inn, but they’d quit whining soon enough. The faster they got used to sleeping rough, the better they’d be able to rest as they approached the Great Evil. And anyways, putting a dragon in a building made of wood was usually a bad idea.
“I’m a lightning affinity.” Dye Job said proudly, holding up a hand and dancing sparks between his fingers. Huh, that wasn’t actually half bad as affinities went. Not as awesome as his or Kirishima’s, but elemental magic was the best type to have. “My upper limit’s pretty low, but so long as I don’t push past it I can keep a charge going for two or three hours.”
“And what if you do push past it?” Katsuki asked. Dye Job shrugged and let the sparks between his fingers fizzle out.
“It rebounds.” he said plainly, raising a hand and making a spark jump from one finger to his forehead. “Puts me out of the fight for anywhere from five minutes to half an hour.”
“He means it turns him into an idiot.” Hagakure stage-whispered to him, and Katsuki snorted.
“Great affinity, shit mage, alright.” he turned to Gangly, ignoring Dye Job’s spluttered protests and Hagakure’s poorly muffled giggles. “What about you?” he asked the lanky boy, who leaned back on his hands.
“I don’t fight with my magic.” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ve got an enchanted whip though, family heirloom.” he patted the coil of braided leather at his hip. “It’s like an extension of my arm at this point, how long it’s been attuned to me.”
“He’s really, really good with it.” Kirishima insisted, his smile bright and earnest. Fuck, it had been too long since Katsuki saw his friend smile like that. Between that and the fact they’d been the reason Hagakure tagged along, maybe bringing the pair of townie idiots with hadn’t been that bad of an idea after all.
“Yeah, I’ve seen him grab things from across the Wolf’s Fang with his back turned.” Hagakure nodded. “He even grabbed me with it a couple times when I was being invisible.”
“Miss-Appear, is that supposed to say he’s good at being a null, or you’re bad at being invisible?” he asked flatly, and Hagakure puffed out her cheeks in a pout before turning invisible. Kirishima’s head turned slightly as she apparently got up and left, and Katsuki frowned as he noticed Gangly doing the same. “You’re not a null though, are you?” he asked rhetorically, rising and circling the campfire towards the boy with eyes, now that he bothered to look, too dark to be human. His face wasn’t quite right either, not enough to see at a glance but enough to prickle a warning at the back of Katsuki’s neck as he stared the other teen down.
“I’m not, but like I said, I don’t fight with my magic.” Gangly flipped up the front of his bandana to reveal one of those gods-damned rings. It was clean, still with a dull shine to it, but clearly older than the one Kirishima had been wearing yesterday.
“You don’t even have any of your other form’s traits visible.” he said, lowering himself to one knee and reaching out to grip the ring, the collar that stupid, backwards, fucked-up city used to keep the shifters within their walls from using their magic. “As long as you’re wearing that, you’re basically a null.”
“Yeah, which is why I’ve got the whip.” Gangly rolled his eyes. Katsuki pooled magic in the palm of his hand, and stared at Gangly until the shifter’s gaze met his.
“Nulls have no place fighting the Great Evil.” he said firmly, and forced his magic into the collar, detonating the wire that coiled inside it to choke any shifter who dared try to use the gifts they were born with. The ring split at the seam he’d grabbed, and Gangly’s mouth fell open as Katsuki pulled it from his neck, flinging the metal away into the woods. “So, show me what you shift into.”
“I- no.” Gangly shook his head. “No, my shifted form is... it’s scary. Really scary.”
“Sero, it’ll be alright.” Kirishima assured him, scooting over to rest a hand on the lanky shifter’s shoulder. “When Bakugo first met me, I was stuck as a dragon. He wasn’t scared at all.”
“And you already told me what you turn into.” Dye Job said, leaning back on his hands. “Personally, I kinda wanna see you do a full shift. The partial one you managed a few years back was pretty cool.”
Bakugo rose to his feet, and stepped back from Gangly to cross his arms. “Shift, now.” he demanded. “Prove to me you’ll be willing to use your magic in the fight that matters most, or be ready to head back to that trash heap slum you call home tomorrow.”
Gangly stared at him for a few long seconds, the crackle of the fire the only sound in their little campsite, then shut his eyes with a heavy sigh and rose to his feet. “Just this once.” he swore. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you.” he backed up a few steps from the fire, then a few more, his dark clothes beginning to fade into the shadows and pale skin shining in the firelight. Gangly stood utterly still for a few seconds, eyes shut and hands at his sides, and then his whole body spasmed, a not-quite human cry of agony spilling from his open mouth.
A heartbeat later his pants shredded, long strips of fabric fluttering to the ground as dark, chitinous legs spread to stable footing, and then spread further because Gangly was growing. He was back up to his original height when his shirt met the same fate as his pants, chest and shoulders too wide now for clothing designed to fit any normal human. He finally stopped at probably double his human size, and Katsuki’s ribs felt tight around his heart and lungs, pulse pounding in his ears as a fully fledged drider stared down at him with eight black eyes, lipless mouth open as it panted, revealing dozens of needle-sharp teeth. One too-long arm lifted into the firelight, the black exoskeleton which coated it from white-pointed fingertips nearly to the elbow broken up by bands of yellow at every joint, and Katsuki nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder.
“Remember, it’s just Sero.” Kirishima said, his voice low and comforting, familiar from years of hushed conversation when they were supposed to be going to sleep. Katsuki sucked in a breath through his teeth and looked the drider over again, reminding himself that this was just Gangly, just the shifter he’d demanded change form for him. “Looks manly, dude.” Kirishima said as he strode forward, lifting his hand curled into a fist. The drider- no, Gangly fistbumped him, smiling with all those terribly thin, pointed teeth, then let out an utterly inhuman groan as he began to shrink again, stumbling back into the shadow outside the ring of firelight.
Okay, that- that was not something Katsuki wanted to see again. But he’d have to, he needed to be so used to it he didn’t even bat an eye if Gangly shifted mid-battle. This was going to be a very, very long trip.
---
Eijiro knelt next to Sero, who was sitting where he’d fallen when eight legs fused back into two, grimacing and rubbing at his shins. “I forgot how much shifting hurts.” he muttered.
“And that it destroys your clothes?” Eijirou asked, draping a blanket over his friend’s bare shoulders, which apparently bore the yellow marks of his drider form even when he was fully human. Huh, that probably explained why he wore gloves all the time.
“In my defense, it’s been like six years.” Sero pulled the blanket tighter around himself, guarding against the spring night’s chill air, and let Eijirou help him to his feet, stumbling only slightly as he found his balance again. “Felt good, though.” he grinned, and Eijirou returned it as they headed back into the light of the campfire.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to shifting again once we’re out away from the city a little more. Stretch my wings a bit.” he rolled his shoulders, and stooped to pick up one of Sero’s gloves from the ground. “Here, go sit by the fire and I’ll find the other one.”
“Thanks.” Sero smiled, and for the first time Eijirou noticed how thin his incisors were, more narrow even than Tamaki’s snake-fang ones and just as sharp as Eijirou’s own. He was really, really glad that dragons had no instinctive fear of driders. If he hadn’t been able to quash the primal instinct in the back of his mind with sheer draconic indifference, Bakugo would’ve done something unspeakably stupid and hurt Sero. Or, hurt his feelings at least, Eijirou wasn’t sure how sturdy driders were compared to dragons but he’d seen Sero take hits no human could’ve withstood. The second glove wasn’t hard to find, and Eijirou reached out to whap it against the top of Hagakure’s head as he passed her.
“Quit pouting and join us by the fire.”
“I hate when you do that.” she grumbled, fading quickly back into view.
“Dude, that was so cool.” Kaminari enthused as Eijirou returned to the fireside and handed Sero his glove. “I didn’t realize you had so much yellow on your spider bits!”
“I do?” Sero blinked, and Eijirou chuckled.
“What, forget what you look like?” he teased, and Sero’s too-dark eyes met his.
“I’ve only ever shifted twice, you know.” he said, his tone just the conversational side of icy cold, and Eijirou winced. Right, city shifters didn’t get the freedoms he’d had in the tribe. The itch under his skin which had felt like a justly deserved punishment just days ago flared up anew, and he managed a nod.
“Well, you can get plenty of time shifted on the road.” he grinned, sitting himself down next to Bakugo and letting Hagakure slide in next to Sero, pulling the edge of the blanket over her lap. Bakugo yawned next to him, and Eijirou slid an arm around his friend’s shoulders, holding him close.
“Dye Job, you’ve got first watch.” Bakugo grunted, and Eijirou bit back a laugh as his friend grabbed the back of his vest to tug him down to lie next to him. A chill breeze swept through the camp, and Eijirou reached over to his and Bakugo’s pack to fish out the bedroll and spread it over the both of them. Bakugo grunted something approximating thanks, and Eijirou smiled as his friend cuddled up to his back. For a guy with such a powerful fire affinity, Bakugo sure was a baby about cold.
Hagakure and Sero stayed up a little bit longer, but soon enough Sero went rooting in his bag for spare clothes and Hagakure dug her own bedroll out of the small pack she’d brought. Then she came around the fire, and spread it on the ground in front of him with a smile. “You’re warm, can I-” she gestured at Bakugo. Eijirou shrugged and lifted an arm, welcoming her under the bedroll that trapped his draconic body heat in with him and Bakugo.
“I’m plenty warm enough for three.”
“How about four?” Sero asked, visibly shivering. His clothes were probably still cold, and if he was anything like Mina his shifted form made him more vulnerable to the cold to boot.
“Enough to share with three.” Eijirou clarified, and Sero kicked Hagakure until she unrolled her bedroll completely, accepting Sero’s on top of them both. Sero wiggled his way in between Hagakure and Eijirou, and Eijirou wasn’t sure if it was his badly muffled laugher or Hagakure’s protests that roused Bakugo, but his friend curled a hand and let magic seep out of the palm, tiny explosions going off within the cage of his fingers.
“Alright, alright.” Eijirou chuckled, turning onto his back to let Bakugo use his chest as a pillow. “We’re going to sleep now.”
“Fuckin’ better.” Bakugo mumbled, voice thick with sleep, and Eijirou smiled up at the stars overhead. He’d missed this. Missed sleeping under the open sky, his friends cuddled up around him. It was almost like when he and Bakugo had been on the road together as kids, two little idiots with a shitty tent who thought they could defeat the Great Evil on their own. Things were different now, of course, but it was a good different. They were older, stronger, the tent was long gone and they’d gained a whole bunch of friends along the way.
“I’m making you take watch next, Kirishima.” Kaminari muttered from over by the fire, and Eijirou hummed a vague agreement as he shut his eyes and drifted off.