Archive of Our Own

"Please be cautious, Prince. The road ahead is treacherous,” Iida urges, waving one hand in a precise chopping gesture for extra emphasis on his words.

He glances around quickly, hoping to be able to spot threats from any direction before they get too close. It's always an honor to be chosen as Todoroki Shouto’s personal guard, but the problem with being the only knight to escort the prince on this journey is that he can’t protect him from multiple angles. There are too many vulnerable spots, even as he keeps his horse in perfect pace with the prince’s.

Iida just has to remain 100 percent vigilant. Stay on his toes. Never let his guard down.

“It just looks like a regular road to me,” Todoroki replies, unimpressed as he surveys their upcoming route. He nods towards the dusty dirt road stretching through the terrain ahead, leading towards a mountain they’ll have to cross over. It would almost look quaint if not for the line of trees on either side, marking the entrance to the woodlands where anything nefarious and sinister could be hiding just out of sight. The tree canopy dims the sunlight from above, casting shadows between the thick tree trunks and curled branches.

“But there are dangerous barbarians and dragons said to be lurking around in this forest,” Iida points out, recalling stories he’d read and rumors he’d heard before they set forth from the castle. “And a prince such as yourself could be a potential target. But fear not! I swear to protect you with my life.”

“I’d prefer you just protect me with your sword” is Todoroki’s deadpan response.

Iida has known the prince since they were both children, so he’s used to such remarks by now. But the comment does make him start to think about defense tactics he would have to employ if they were attacked by arrows shot from someone far away. His sword would not be able to do much in that kind of situation. He’d have to think of a contingency plan…

“There’s someone in the road ahead,” Todoroki says, completely unconcerned.

Iida nods, still thinking about the potential aerodynamics of his sword if it were necessary to hurl it at an opponent armed with a bow and arrow. And then Todoroki’s words finally register.

“Wait, what?!”

He swivels his head forward again, looking ahead to see there is indeed a person on the road. But instead of walking or riding a horse like most travelers would be, this person is running.

At full speed.

Right towards the prince.

With the grin of an unhinged maniac stretched across his face.

As he draws closer, Iida can see the unidentified assailant better. Blond hair, red eyes. Hands sparking with some sort of fire magic. Blue leather pants and dark boots. Red cape draped on his shoulders. No shirt. Really excellently defined pectoral muscles.

At this point, Iida realizes that if he’s close enough to notice that detail, then he probably ought to start defending the prince. Iida jumps off his horse and draws his sword, putting himself in between the stranger and Todoroki.

“Away, you rogue!” Iida shouts. “Or I will be forced to take defensive measures.”

“Shut the hell up, Four Eyes! I’m trying to fight the half-and-half prince!” the guy shouts back.

“Four Eyes?” Iida repeats.

"Half-and-Half?" Todoroki mutters behind him.

Iiida is mildly affronted by the reference to his glasses. (It’s the lack of originality in the insult that bothers him the most, honestly.) But he doesn’t have much time to dwell on insults because the stranger has thrust his arms out to try to strike with his magic, sending loud explosions popping towards them from the palms of his hands. Iida waves the smoke away and defends the onslaught with his sword as best he can. But the attacker is unfortunately a worthy fighter and quite good at dodging, Iida quickly discovers.

“I’m not really interested in fighting you, if you must know,” Todoroki chimes in from atop his horse where he’s been watching the whole scene unfold with an unenthused expression.

That doesn’t do much to deter the stranger who just yells “fight me, you coward!” in response.

“I will not have you talking to the prince in such a manner,” Iida says, charging closer towards the enemy in the hopes of chasing him away. “It’s rude!”

The stranger shifts his attention away from the prince to meet Iida’s eyes. “Oh, so you’re a stick in the mud, aren’t you?” he taunts with a wide grin. Iida zeroes in on those red eyes, wide with adrenaline from the fight. They're stupidly captivating.

“That may be the case, but it will not stop me from carrying out my duties as a knight,” Iida replies.

But before the exchange can go any further, a large red-scaled dragon claw emerges from the forest and grabs the back of the stranger’s cape, pulling him backwards and immobilizing him from any further attacks. The rest of the dragon follows a moment later, wading into the sunlight and somehow managing to look a bit sheepishly apologetic about his friend.

“Kirishimaaa, let me go!” the guy growls, struggling to break free from the dragon’s strong grip. “I’m still fighting.”

The dragon, of course, seems unfazed by the explosions popping against his scales. He does not relent, and after another few moments, the two of them disappear back into the forest. The stranger’s angry yells of protest grow fainter until they’re too far away to be heard anymore.

Iida blinks in confusion, unable to grasp the whirlwind of events that just happened.

“Well, I suppose you were right about dangerous people on the road,” Todoroki says calmly, as if he’d just observed some pre-arranged entertainment instead of a crazy person attempting to attack him. “Perhaps we should continue onwards?”

Iida pushes his glasses up his nose, and then sheaths his sword. He has a feeling that’s not going to be the last time they see that guy.

But he’ll definitely be ready for him next time.

*~^~*~^~*~^~*

They camp overnight once they reach the base of the mountain, and Iida stays on high alert but there is no sign of anyone else who may wish the prince harm. In the morning, they begin following the road as it winds up the mountainside, and Iida grows increasingly worried about the seemingly endless amount of hiding places they pass by where anybody could be lurking.

Especially yesterday's attacker.

All of his thoughts center on the brutish barbarian. What was his motivation? How can Iida better defend against that explosion magic? When will he strike next? Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt? What’s his workout routine?

Iida mentally swats away those last two distracting thoughts. No need to dwell on unimportant things while he’s on a very important mission. He should be devoted to keeping the prince safe! Nothing else!

Iida glances over at Todoroki to find him dozing right in the saddle, somehow managing to steer his horse without waking up.

“Prince, are you okay?” Iida shouts immediately, nudging Todoroki’s shoulder to rouse him.

Todoroki peeks one eye open, and replies groggily, “Hm…? I’m just bored.”

“Please, Prince Shouto, I implore you to stay awake for your own safety,” Iida continues. He waves his arms in the air for emphasis, even though Todoroki isn’t looking at him.

“Then make something exciting happen,” Todoroki replies with a shrug.

“How am I supposed to do that? It’s not like I can make entertainment appear out of thin air.”

A rustling in the bushes they just passed catches Iida’s attention, and he turns around just in time to see the stranger from before come barreling out of the underbrush, looking just as wild and excited as he was yesterday.

“You again! You fiend!” Iida exclaims.

Todoroki opens his eyes again, craning his neck around to see and then nodding with approval. “Oh, perfect timing,” he says.

“Fight me, Prince!”

“Fight Iida instead,” Todoroki replies, gesturing lazily at the knight.

Iida has already dismounted his horse and drawn his sword in preparation for another fight. He wishes he had been able to come up with a better strategy to combat the attacker’s magic, but he’s sure he’ll figure something out as they continue.

“Fine, make it quick, Stick in the Mud!” the attacker growls, directing all his attention back to Iida. He spreads his arms wide, fingers curled and prepared for an attack, and hunches forward like a wild animal ready to pounce.

Iida mirrors the defensive stance, but doesn’t make a move yet. He wants to see what kind of information he can gather first. Maybe even convince the guy to not attack at all.

“Before we begin, I would like to know your name, your occupation, and your motivation for attacking the prince,” Iida demands.

The stranger immediately rolls his eyes. “Wanna know my blood type and if I’m single too?” he sneers back.

“I will take any and all information you offer,” Iida replies seriously.

What he gets in response is a half-scoff, half-laugh from the guy. For some reason, Iida thinks it’s kind of cute, a noise like that coming from someone attempting to look as intimidating as possible.

“The name’s Bakugou Katsuki. I’m the strongest barbarian fighter around here, but I’ve never fought a dual-magic wielder before. So I have to beat him.” He points to the prince for emphasis, and then without warning, throws an explosion-filled punch at Iida.

Then he adds with a smirk, “also, my blood type is A.”

“That makes sense,” Todoroki remarks quietly to no one in particular.

Iida fends off Bakugou’s initial attack with a swing of his sword and some fancy footwork. “In that case, I will introduce myself as well,” he says, attempting to get close enough to bruise Bakugou with the blunt side of his sword.

He’d prefer no bloodshed if possible, though up closer than before, he can see faded old battle scars littered across Bakugou’s bare skin. Each one probably holds a fascinating tale of how it came to mark the warrior, but Iida has no time to get sidetracked on the subject right now.

“My name is Iida Tenya, a knight sworn to protect the prince. Therefore, I cannot possibly let you fight him at all. You’ll have to deal with me instead,” he begins, leaning sharply to the left to dodge another one of Bakugou’s explosions. “And I also have type A blood.”

“What a shock,” Todoroki says dully, adding to his fight commentary that neither is paying much attention to. “I’m type O, by the way.”

Bakugou growls in frustration because his target keeps slipping out of his grasp. Iida is quite proud of his use of speed and agile footwork in his evasion tactics; he was one of the top knights in his class, after all. And he has the Iida family legacy to carry on.

With an ear-piercing yell, Bakugou suddenly uses a large double explosion to launch himself straight up into the air, apparently planning to divebomb Iida from above.

Scrambling frantically for a quick counterattack, Iida tosses his sword to the ground and lifts up his arms. The armor plating his chest and arms should continue to protect him from the worst of the explosions, so he figures his best bet is to redirect Bakugou’s momentum away from where he intends it to go.

It was not actually a well-thought-out plan.

What ends up happening is that Iida manages to grab Bakugou’s hands, even accidentally lacing their fingers together, and the barbarian ends up so surprised by the sudden contact that he forgets the explosions completely, even as Iida pulls him down from the air. They topple into a heap on the ground with a loud thud. Iida is mildly concerned that his ribs might be bruised now from the unexpected weight.

For a moment that stretches on for far too long, the two of them just stare at each other in shock for the positions they’ve wound up in. They are close enough that Iida can see every detail of Bakugou’s face. His blazing red eyes. The gentle curve of his nose. The way his lips curl to expose his teeth. The smooth skin of his forehead and cheeks. Iida could count each pretty eyelash if he wanted to.

“Hm, a plot twist,” Todoroki says nearby as if he’s merely watching a mildly intriguing stage play instead of two people attempting to cause each other bodily harm.

The prince’s words seem to break whatever moment they were having, and Bakugou simply yells “what the fuck” as he scrambles back to his feet.

Iida remains flat on his back on the ground, blinking at this unexpected turn of events.

It’s at this moment Kirishima the dragon makes a reappearance, his red snout and claws emerging from the forest apparently to collect Bakugou again before causing more trouble. This time, Bakugou doesn’t complain. He merely begins to stomp away into the forest again before the dragon’s claw can catch hold of him. But before he disappears completely into the thick grove of trees, Bakugou does stop at the edge and yell “I’ll be back again to destroy you!”

Iida allows only just a moment more to recollect himself, then he gets back up. Todoroki watches him dust the dirt off his clothes and retrieve his sword, but he chooses not to say anything yet. Iida is grateful for the momentary silence as he climbs back on his horse so they can continue on their journey without delay. He resolves not to think about the wild barbarian for the rest of the day.

The incident just now was merely a distraction, nothing more. He should absolutely banish it from his mind and focus on more important things. For a few blissful minutes, the only noise on the road is the peaceful soundtrack of horse hooves against dirt, with melody carried by songbirds roosting above in the trees.

And then Todoroki finally decides to speak. “That was quite entertaining, thank you.”

Iida chooses not to acknowledge this statement.

“You know, he didn’t mention it in his introduction, but I think he probably is single,” Todoroki continues. “I can’t imagine many people can handle that much aggressive energy. But, hm… he might be interested in you.”

Iida tries to nonchalantly push his glasses up his nose, but finds they’re already up as far as they can go so the metal bridge just digs uncomfortably into his skin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replies, hoping the prince will drop the subject.

He’s already thinking again about the briefly starstruck expression on Bakugou’s face when they were pressed up together. The way his face softened in shock for a fleeting second before resuming his attempt at an intimidating expression. And Iida’s already thinking again about accidentally grabbing Bakugou’s hands earlier. They were kinda sweaty and gross, but also very strong. He almost would be interested in a proper duel with the guy if he wasn’t so unhinged.

“Your face is very pink right now,” Todoroki points out.

“It’s exertion from the strenuous fight, I swear!”

*~^~*~^~*~^~*

It’s nearly nightfall when Bakugou makes his promised reappearance.

Of course, he chooses to make his entrance in the most dramatic fashion possible: by swinging in on a vine from a nearby tree, yelling extremely reprehensible curses at the top of his lungs as he draws closer.

It makes it incredibly easy to dodge his attack; Iida and Todoroki merely pull their horses two steps back and watch Bakugou sail through the air like a furious trapeze artist with terrible timing. But he does at least manage to mostly stick the landing on the edge of the dirt road, only stumbling on his feet slightly as they hit solid ground.

“Fight me, you coward!” he demands, spinning around to face them. “I’ll beat you and prove I’m the best in these lands!” he demands.

“Prove it to who?” Todoroki mutters. “It’s just the three of us here.”

Iida sighs and wastes no time maneuvering himself and his horse between the prince and Bakugou. Instead of attacking directly, Bakugou just bares his teeth and glares at Iida.

“I’m not fighting you again, Four Eyes.”

“Because I won our last match-up?” Iida replies.

“Fuck off,” he replies rudely. “You didn’t win shit.”

Iida decides it’s beneath his dignity as a royal knight to acknowledge Bakugou’s profanity. So he continues on with the plan he’d concocted earlier in anticipation for this next meeting.

“I propose-”

“Woah,” Todoroki cuts in, his stoic voice sounding much less enthused than the expression would imply. “How sudden.”

Iida barrels through the interruption, gritting his teeth, to continue “...a battle of words this time instead of a physical fight. It’s nearly dark and we must have time to set up camp for the night.”

“An insult battle!” Bakugou’s eyes light up at the idea, a manic grin plastering itself across his face.

“I, I meant more like a trivia contest,” Iida stammers. He glances to the prince for help, but Todoroki merely shrugs like he’s resigned to do all the work of setting up camp himself while Bakugou and Iida shout rude things at each other for the next 15 minutes or so.

Bakugou turns towards the woods and cups his hands around his mouth, amplifying his voice as he shouts, “Oi, Shitty Hair. Get over here and be the judge for our battle.”

There’s a slightly ominous rustling sound of something moving through the forest towards them. The creak and snap of tree branches as they’re pushed away. The crunch of underbrush crushed beneath something’s feet. Iida is almost sure it’s the dragon again, and he has no idea how a creature who can’t speak will serve as the judge for a word-based competition.

But then, a friendly human face peeks around from a large tree at the edge of the road. He has bright red spikes of hair sticking straight up into the air (not shitty at all, Iida thinks) and a friendly smile on his face. And he’s dressed in clothes similar to Bakugou’s (though Iida notes that this stranger has chosen to wear a shirt).

“Hi, I’m Kirishima Eijirou,” he introduces himself with a friendly wave. “Sorry about Bakugou, man. He’s just always been very… passionate about stuff. It’s very manly, but sometimes a bit, uh… overwhelming too.”

“Oi!” Bakugou barks in protest.

Iida blinks. “Kirishima?” he repeats. “Wasn’t that the name of the dragon?”

“Oh yes, that’s me,” Kirishima laughs, pointing his thumbs at his chest. “Dragon-shifter.”

“Enough of the introductions,” Bakugou cuts in, impatiently waving his arms like he’s dispelling invisible cobwebs that have cropped up between Iida and Kirishima. “We’re wasting time.”

Kirishima shrugs. “Sure, okay.” He turns towards Iida. “I promise to be an impartial judge, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Iida isn’t quite sure he can trust this friendly dragon-shifter, but he supposes he can get Todoroki to chime in if there are any signs of favoritism during the battle. He glances over his shoulder to the prince, but Todoroki has already started trying to assemble the tent, apparently in an effort to completely ignore whatever the rest of them are doing.

Before they begin the “insult” battle, Kirishima lays down a couple of ground rules of things that are off-limits. Bakugou grumbles a bit at first, but then clenches his fists with determination, like he’s decided the narrow parameters of their competition makes it a worthy challenge to overcome.

“Iida, you can go first,” Kirishima says.

He wasn’t exactly expecting to land the first proverbial blow, so Iida stalls a moment by fiddling with his glasses. He sizes up Bakugou again, trying to think of something insulting to say that doesn’t break the “no insults about physical appearance and family members” rule. Without knowing very much about the barbarian, there’s not a lot of material to work with. Bakugou is just standing there, scowling at him like usual, tapping his fingers impatiently against his crossed arms.

“I believe your manners are so terrible that you wouldn’t last two minutes during tea time with the royal court,” Iida declares. They’ve only interacted a handful of times so far, but Bakugou has been nothing but rude the whole time, so this seems like a fair assessment.

If Bakugou were invited to royal tea, he’d probably splash tea everywhere while adding the sugar cubes to it. Like an uncultured heathen.

And they’d also probably force him to wear a proper shirt.

Hm, wait, no. Iida suddenly does not want Bakugou to ever attend royal tea time.

“Hah??” Bakugou exclaims, already offended by the jab at his etiquette skills.

Kirishima muffles a small snicker with his hand, which Iida takes as a sign that his assumption about manners is correct.

Bakugou takes a step closer, raising his shoulders in an attempt to look more intimidating. “That sounds like something only a boring stick in the mud would do. I bet you can’t climb up a sheer cliff with a boulder strapped to your back.”

“...a boulder?” Iida repeats, narrowing his eyes in confusion. How random.

“Yes,” Bakugou nods.

“Did… did you actually do that? Why would you do that? What was the point?” Every new thing Iida learns about Bakugou is baffling. (And damn intriguing.)

“It’s like five hours of backstory to explain it all,” Kirishima interrupts before they get too far off track. “But basically he lost a bet.”

Bakugou waves his fist threateningly at Kirishima. “Shut up, Shitty Hair.”

Iida glances over his shoulder to see what Todoroki’s reaction to all this is, but the prince is busy digging into their food rations and staring distantly into the small campfire he’s started. He seems intent on ignoring their existence tonight.

“Well then,” Iida continues, ready to share his next insult. He takes a step forward to mirror Bakugou’s earlier action. “Bakugou clearly has no regard for his safety. Free climbing up a cliff with no safety gear is downright reckless, and you should be ashamed.”

“Ooooh,” Kirishima exclaims.

“You’re just jealous because you can’t do it,” Bakugou grins.

Iida lifts his chin. “I wouldn’t want to. I have accomplished many other noteworthy feats during my lifetime.”

“What’s so noteworthy about being a stick in the mud?” Bakugou deadpans, unimpressed.

Iida takes another step forward in the hopes that he’ll look slightly more intimidating as he speaks. “I’ll have you know, I am a five-time reigning chess champion of the castle.”

“So you're a nerd,” Bakugou scoffs.

“I also hold the city record for running up seven flights of stairs in under three minutes."

"And you do pointless things."

"And I once created a special blend of orange juice that became extremely popular in the castle and surrounding city," Iida concludes proudly.

"Orange juice?" Bakugou wrinkles his nose. "So you have terrible tastes too."

"My profit margins indicated that it was the exact opposite of terrible actually."

Bakugou narrows his eyes and takes another step closer. Iida follows suit, bracing himself for the next verbal blow.

"Well I can prepare a full five course meal with any ingredients. And it always tastes so good that people actually weep when they realize how fantastic my cooking is,” Bakugou brags.

“Weeping sounds counterproductive to enjoying a good meal,” Iida points out.

“Maybe he should demonstrate his cooking skills for us,” Todoroki calls out, finally deciding to check back into the conversation. They turn around to see that he’s somehow simultaneously freezed and charbroiled one of their rations into something that is definitely inedible. “Like possibly right now. Or I’m going to starve to death in the woods.”

“No way in hell,” Bakugou declines immediately.

Kirishima takes pity on the prince and gives him a cluster of wild berries to eat instead. “Perhaps we should just call this battle a draw,” the dragon-shifter says. “It was a super manly fight. You both did great, but I think we’re getting a bit off topic.”

Iida is suddenly aware of how physically close together he and Bakugou have ended up. Their noses are mere inches apart, and again Iida finds himself studying every detail of Bakugou’s face, enough so that he might be able to recreate it from memory if he had decent enough art skills.

Bakugou jerks away, cheeks suddenly flushed a light shade of pink. “Rest up, Stick in the Mud,” he commands as he grabs Kirishima’s arm and starts dragging him towards the darkened woods. “We battle again tomorrow. With fists.”

And then he is gone again, almost as if he’d just been a very attractive figment of Iida’s imagination.

“He’s apparently a good cook,” Todoroki remarks, cutting the silence as Iida plops down by the small fire of their campsite and grabs some of the food. “You should definitely date him. He’d be useful.”

Iida chokes on one of the berries. “I will do no such thing,” he declares after he’s cleared his throat. “Besides, you weren’t even listening to the rest of what he was saying tonight. He’s reckless and rude.”

Todoroki shrugs. “Yeah, I wasn’t really interested in listening to you two flirt.”

“It was not flirting!” Iida gasps, scandalized. “It was an insult battle,.”

“I’ve been told flirting can take many forms, depending on maturity levels.”

Iida decides that he does not actually have to talk to the prince for the rest of the night and therefore does not have to dignify that with a response. But if he spends the quiet time before he drifts off to sleep later wondering what’d it’d be like to watch Bakugou cook, then Todoroki doesn’t have to know that.

*~^~*~^~*~^~*

A thunderstorm passes through during the night, keeping them awake for about an hour, but Iida had secured their campsite and tent well enough earlier that it caused no problems. So in the morning, they pack up again and set out to continue down the mountain. The only difference is that the path is just a bit muddier than before.

Iida wonders where Bakugou lives, and what kind of shelter protects him from a rainstorm. Or maybe he’s the kind of person who enjoys getting drenched from head to toe as rivulets of raindrops cascade down his skin.

It doesn’t matter, of course, Iida reminds himself, shaking the thoughts away. He doesn’t need to know more about the ridiculous barbarian attacker or imagine what he might look like in the rain.

But still, he wonders.

And after a while, he thinks maybe those stray thoughts are accidentally responsible for manifesting the barbarian himself. Or he's hallucinating.

Standing squarely in the middle of the road up ahead is Bakugou himself, arms crossed but otherwise not looking for a fight like usual. Iida blinks his eyes once, twice, three times, but the image in front of him doesn’t change.

It is not a mirage.

“Good morning Bakugou, but I’m afraid it’s a bit too early for a fight today,” Iida says. “Maybe come back after lunch.”

Beside him, Todoroki yawns loudly for emphasis.

“Forget that,” Bakugou says, his voice less aggressive but somehow also more serious than usual. “There was a landslide during the storm last night, and it blocked the road ahead. Kirishima’s clearing it now, but I thought you should know you’ll have to wait a while.”

He turns on his heel and quickly marches away, and Iida automatically throws his hand out to stop him.

“Wait!” he calls out, surprised even by his own movements.

Bakugou spins back around, eyeing him warily.

“I could help clear the road too,” Iida says quickly. “We’re already slightly behind schedule, and I would feel bad if Kirishima had to do all the work himself.”

“Yeah, Iida can help out. He has really strong arms and legs,” Todoroki says pointedly, patting Iida’s bicep as if there’s any confusion about which muscles he’s talking about.

It takes every bit of Iida’s years of training as a royal guard not to glare at the prince right then and there.

“Alright, whatever,” Bakugou shrugs. “C’mon.”

They follow Bakugou as he uses his explosion magic to propel himself forward quickly, and within 10 minutes, they arrive at the scene of the landslide. A pile of rocks and thick mud completely block the road, even sliding off the other side of the path and into the edge of the trees. There’s no way Iida and Todoroki would have been able to safely maneuver the horses around the destruction if they’d stumbled upon this on their own.

Kirishima, in dragon form, is perched on the top of the mud mound, busy clawing it all out of the way, but he swivels his head around when he hears them approach and wiggles his snout in what Iida assumes is a friendly hello.

Bakugou distributes some makeshift shovels he’d brought along. He and Iida end up side-by-side, knee-deep in the work.

Spending time like this with Bakugou is a strange experience, Iida quickly discovers. Angry had been his default demeanor in every encounter so far, but now he's simply focused and determined. Were it not for the constant threats against the prince before now, Iida would definitely respect and admire his commitment to concentration.

"Does this happen often?" Iida chances a conversation with the barbarian. "The landslides, I mean."

"Sometimes," Bakugou answers, hefting a large rock out of the way that he'd just unearthed. "Some parts of the mountain are more unstable than others. And this road isn't traveled as often as it used to be, so not many people around here care to maintain it much."

"I see."

Bakugou shovels a load of dirt out of the way before he continues, "I remember when I was real young that a really terrible storm almost washed out the entire mountain pass. Our village was cut off for days from traveling in either direction. It was an absolute nightmare for everyone. No chance of getting supplies in or out." He glances over towards Kirishima. "But having a dragon around gets the work done a lot quicker. And no one else may care now, but Kirishima and I often check for weak places around the mountain these days to try to prevent this shit.” He frowns. “Obviously missed this spot though."

Bakugou pauses a moment, like he's suddenly realized that he was having a perfectly mundane conversation with Iida instead of threatening him. With the tips of his ears turning an embarrassed shade of pink, Bakugou hunches over to dig faster.

"That's very admirable," Iida says. They may not have started off on the best of terms, but Iida can respect someone who works to make the world a little better.

Bakugou shrugs off the compliment. “It’s just something that needed to be done.”

They fall into a silence after that for a bit. Iida shuffles a few small rocks out of the way with his foot before digging deeper into the mud. They’re making pretty good progress at clearing the road so far. Just ahead of them he can see sunlight reflecting off of Kirishima’s scales as he moves larger chunks of earth with his claws. Todoroki is nearby, gathering rocks that are small enough to pile up in his arms. The road blockage is growing smaller and smaller with every shovelful of mud they move. The work is a bit tedious but Iida does not allow himself to slack off when everyone else is trying their best as well.

“You always with the prince?” Bakugou asks after a while, shattering the quiet of Iida’s thoughts. His tone sounds reluctantly curious, as though he'd been debating with himself moments prior if he should ask at all.

“Hm?” Iida turns to face Bakugou, who’s paused for a momentary break by leaning against his shovel. “Yes, I suppose that’s true most of the time. We grew up together, and he's one of my best friends. I’ve been training to be a knight in his service since childhood.” He straightens up his shoulders as he speaks, remembering years of etiquette training drilled into his brain. Always face a person head on when speaking to them.

“Sounds dull.”

“The training is actually quite rigorous,” Iida continues, unfazed by Bakugou’s blunt words. An old memory rises to the surface of his mind, and he chuckles quietly. “One of the first things I learned was how to ride a horse. I got paired up initially with this old, cranky stallion that didn’t like people very much. Every time I’d climb into the saddle, he’d try to toss me off. Every day, I’d get a new bruise or a new scrape. One time I’m sure the fall fractured one of my ribs.”

Bakugou listens to his story, facial expression mostly unreadable except that his eyes are narrowed as he scrutinizes Iida’s words.

“But I was determined to learn how to ride, because if I could not master that simple task, then my goal of becoming a knight would never be attainable. So I continued. Instead of just going out to the stables once a day to try to ride, I started going as often as possible. I fed the stallion, brushed his coat, and cleaned his stable. Until eventually, we got used to each other, and one day, I climbed into the saddle and the stallion didn’t seem to mind at all.”

“And that’s how I learned how to ride a horse,” he concludes, somewhat lamely, and then suddenly feels just as sheepish as Bakugou had earlier for sharing such a personal story. He plunges his shovel back into the mud just to have something to do with his hands instead of nervously waving them around. “Sorry for rambling. I got carried away.”

He has no idea why he’d felt the need to share that old story with a stranger he’d only met a few days ago. Bakugou probably isn't very interested in hearing how he grew up. But the words just tumbled out of his mouth without warning like the dirt and rocks currently surrounding his ankles.

"So you've always been a stubborn idiot," Bakugou finally says.

But he doesn't sound rude and insulting this time, like he has in all their other interactions. The tone is more like… grudging admiration. When Iida casts a glance over to Bakugou, he doesn't even look angry or gloating. In fact, he's very focused on digging again, as if he doesn't want to make eye contact anymore.

"I suppose so," Iida says quietly.

They return to working in silence, but it feels sorta like a more comfortable one now. Like they've reached an understanding or something like that. Iida finds himself feeling content.

Every now and then, he looks over at Bakugou and watches the way he works. The way his face crumples up as he dislodges a particularly stuck rock. The way he pauses and stretches his arms and back every so often. The way the muscles in his abdomen flex with each shovelful of mud. The way his movements are calculated and precise so as to not cause more damage to the environment than has already been done.

Maybe there's more to this stranger than just a loud angry voice and exploding hands.

"We're about done over here," Kirishima calls out, and Iida blinks. He hadn't even noticed Kirishima had shifted back into his human form. He'd been too focused on Bakugou.

"Looks like we can probably get through now," Todoroki adds, wrangling up the horses who had been patiently munching on nearby grass until whenever they had the opportunity to continue.

Iida politely offers his sincere thanks for their work, which only makes Bakugou scowl and Kirishima laugh sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"You shouldn't have any trouble with the rest of the path," Bakugou says. "It's not much farther until you get to the bottom of the mountain and then the road levels off again. Then after that, it’s about a half day’s journey until you're out of this forest."

"Smooth sailing," Kirishima adds with a laugh.

Iida nods as an awkward silence then descends on the group, like no one's quite sure how to say goodbye now that they’ve gotten all the important stuff over with.

"Well… thank you," Iida eventually says again, mounting his horse and making sure the prince is ready to leave too.

Kirishima transforms back into a dragon, and waves goodbye as he flies up towards the mountain peak. Bakugou remains in the path for a moment, unmoving, eyes looking like he's calculating something.

Then he points a finger directly at Iida. "Temporary truce over. I'll be back when you least expect it for another battle," he declares, voice returning back to its usual aggressively confident tone. And then Bakugou dashes into the woods without another word.

Iida blinks, a bit stunned. And he can feel his traitorous face start to heat up from the unexpected attention.

“It’s… it’s a good thing Kirishima said the road will be smooth sailing from here,” Iida finds himself saying. “Perhaps the sooner we get out of this forest, the better.”

"I’m not too sure about that,” Todoroki says. “You should be cautious, Iida. The road ahead is still treacherous.” He’s echoing the same words Iida had spoken at the beginning of their journey, but then he clarifies in his signature stoic voice, "...treacherous for your heart."

Iida lets out an exasperated sigh and does not even look at the prince. Todoroki's teasing him, but he's also probably right.

*~^~*~^~*~^~*

For the next few hours, every rustling leaf and cracking twig sets Iida on edge. A bird flitting from tree to tree startles him. A shadow from a passing cloud overhead makes him jump.

He keeps expecting Bakugou to burst forth from the forest at any moment at any angle, and he refuses to be caught off guard. If he and Bakugou are to have one last fight, Iida wants to be able to give 110 percent and make it a good one. His opponent deserves nothing less.

But by the time the road starts leveling off again and the trees start to thin, Iida fools himself into thinking maybe Bakugou won’t show up at all. In the distance, he can already see the edge of the woods, looming like a gateway back to the rest of the world, making it feel like this part of their journey had only been a strange fever dream.

“I’m bored again,” Todoroki says. “People always say roadtrips are exciting and full of adventure, but they never mention the long stretch of boring parts in between.”

Iida readjusts his glasses, considering the merits of giving Todoroki a speech about how boredom and excitement are two sides of the same coin, and that you can’t have one without inevitably having the other. But he’s pretty sure the prince might fall asleep in his saddle again if Iida does, so he settles for, “I think we’ve certainly had enough excitement on this journey so far.”

But perhaps because Bakugou heard the conversation happening below, the rowdy barbarian chooses this exact moment to make his reappearance, dropping down from a tree branch above with a loud cackle that alerts them both to his presence. The noise also allows Iida plenty of time to dodge the falling barbarian.

Bakugou lands on his feet, crouched down like a feral cat assessing his prey.

“Oh thank you, Universe,” Todoroki says, mostly to himself. “Perfect timing.”

Iida scrambles to dismount from his horse before Bakugou can pounce. “I am fully prepared to fight you again,” he announces, “but as usual, I have no intentions of letting you fight the prince.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes. “I’m here to fight you anyway, Stick in the Mud.” He straightens up and removes the cape fastened around his neck, and Iida is sure he has some sort of mild heart palpitation at the sight of Bakugou’s now bare shoulders. “Let’s make this a classic fist fight. No magic. No swords. First one to get knocked down wins.”

Iida begins removing his heavy armor which won’t be very useful for a hand-to-hand fight anyway. “Those terms are acceptable.”

Bakugou snorts, and then holds his fists up as he shifts into a defensive stance. Iida mirrors the stance, wondering if he should strike first or wait for Bakugou. But he doesn’t have to wait long at all because Bakugou is extremely impatient. Much like their first fight, Iida finds himself ducking and dodging each attack by utilizing his speed and agility.

Unfortunately, Bakugou’s fighting style doesn’t give Iida much of an opportunity to throw a punch back. He’s stuck on defense when he really should switch to offense.

“C’mon, Four Eyes, you can do better than that,” Bakugou goads.

“If I win, you have to call me by my actual name,” Iida says without thinking first, originally focused on how much he dislikes jibes about his glasses. It occurs to him a second later that the request may be too much for a stranger such as Bakugou.

“Ha! You’d have to actually beat me first!” he taunts back.

The fight continues with a flurry of fists and hands grabbing at each other in an attempt to throw the other off balance. A few shoves here. A couple of nudges as ankles there. Nothing either of them can’t handle so far. But as the fight progresses, they make more of an effort to grab each other and pull closer. Bakugou attempts to get a grip around Iida’s neck, and in return, Iida wraps his arms around Bakugou’s chest. They haven’t been this physically close together since the time Bakugou had accidentally landed on top of Iida during that earlier fight.

“Ah, the inherent eroticism of grappling,” Todoroki remarks, like he is getting paid to poorly commentate on the match-up.

“Please don’t ever say the word eroticism again,” Iida wheezes out through his partially constricted airway.

“Stop making this weird, you half-and-half bastard,” Bakugou angrily chimes in. He currently looks like a partially squeezed burrito with the grip Iida has around his midsection.

“I’m merely a spectator. I call it like I see it,” Todoroki replies while snacking on a cluster of wild berries from their food pack.

Iida decides that maybe this fight has gone on long enough. He had actually been enjoying the thrill of battle, but Todoroki’s observation made him suddenly self-conscious about being in such close proximity with Bakugou. He can no longer deny to himself that he thinks Bakugou is quite an attractive person and he’s intrigued enough to want to know so much more about the barbarian. And this fight isn’t exactly the way he wants to do that.

So he does what any reasonable person would do: he suddenly switches his momentum from his hands to his feet, managing to catch Bakugou off-guard with the sudden kick and knocking him to the ground.

Bakugou stares up at him in shock, his face a tomato-y red from the fight. “Unfair!” he shouts. “This was a fist fight.”

“You did not prohibit the use of feet in the rules before the match,” Iida argues back. He leans over to extend a hand to Bakugou to help him up.

“I specifically called it a fist fight, you idiot,” Bakugou complains while taking his hand anyway. But instead of getting up, he yanks it hard enough to pull Iida down to the ground too.

“Ha, now we’re even,” Bakugou continues as Iida lands on top of him. He smirks at first until he realizes they’re so close their noses are actually touching this time.

Iida flails his arms as Bakugou pushes him off.

Extremely embarrassed, they both jump up and jump away from each other. Neither is quite sure what to do now that their fight sorta ended up as a draw again, and Todoroki’s use of the word eroticism earlier has made things extra awkward.

“You’re both idiots,” Todoroki declares and then continues on up the path with the horses, apparently to give them a bit of privacy.

“Well… that’s that, I guess,” Iida says. He feels so awkward, he doesn’t know what to do with his hands as he speaks. He settles for a rhythmic chopping motion in the air. “You have been a worthy opponent.”

“You…” Bakugou glares into the woods instead of looking at Iida. “You ain’t so bad yourself.”

This is it, Iida realizes. This is where they part ways. He has to continue on the rest of the trip with the prince, and Bakugou will remain here in the forest around the mountain where he belongs. Their strange interactions had been fun, and Iida wouldn’t mind them continuing, but any hopes he has of pursuing this burgeoning attraction are surely a one-sided fantasy.

They stand there awkwardly for a bit, neither one willing to be the first one to break the silence with a goodbye. But the longer this goes on, the more difficult the goodbye will be, Iida knows. So eventually he clears his throat and bids the barbarian farewell.

“I hope we meet again someday,” Iida forces himself to add.

“Yeah, whatever,” Bakugou says, obviously pretending that he doesn’t care even though Iida can see tiny sparks emerging from his clenched fists.

Iida sprints to catch up with Todoroki, but he chances one last look at Bakugou before he climbs back onto his horse to leave. He only sees the fluttering of Bakugou’s cape as he disappears into the forest.

*~^~*~^~*~^~*

Todoroki keeps casting him concerned and curious glances as they travel to the edge of the forest. Once they clear the trees, there’s only the road and mildly hilly grasslands as far as Iida can see. A few houses dot the landscape ahead, but the destination they’re heading for is still out of sight.

“Did he reject you?” Todoroki finally asks, almost sounding a bit hesitant. “Because if so, I suppose we will have to find an alternate route back to the castle when we head back home.”

“Reject me?” Iida repeats.

“You confessed your feelings, didn’t you? When I gave you some space to talk?” Todoroki continues. “And he said no, and that’s why you returned looking devastatingly sad.”

Iida puts a hand to his face, as if he could figure out his current facial expression just by touching it. Did he really look as devastated as he felt?

“I didn’t confess,” Iida says. “We just said our goodbyes. Perhaps I just look sad because... I’ll miss him.”

Todoroki pulls the reins on his horse and halts completely. “You didn’t confess?” The prince looks confused for a moment, and then suddenly he points back towards the woods. “Go tell him. Go back and tell him right now that you like him and he should join us on the rest of this trip.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Because you like him, and he clearly likes you too, and you both should be happy.” Todoroki says this like he’s stating something as unquestioningly simple as the sky is blue and the grass is green.

Iida glances towards the woods and then back at Todoroki. “How do you know he likes me? How can you be sure?”

“I think I’ve read enough of my sister’s romance novels to know pining when I see it,” Todoroki answers.

“That... doesn’t really sound like infallible logic,” Iida mutters, but picks another point to argue instead. “But how can I invite someone on our journey who has constantly threatened to harm you? It would be irresponsible for me as your protector.”

Todoroki shrugs. “I seriously doubt he’s really interested in fighting me anymore. He’s really hung up on you now. But I guess it’s like that old saying ‘keep your friends close and your prince’s enemies closer.’”

Iida blinks. “That’s not exactly how that saying goes.”

“Yes it is,” Todoroki insists. “That’s how I said it. Just now.”

Iida is running out of arguments. Todoroki is right about one thing at least. He does want to ask Bakugou to join them. He wants to spend as much time as he can getting to know Bakugou better. Maybe just let things unfold and see where it leads them.

Without allowing for any time to talk himself out of it, Iida jumps off his horse and sprints back towards the edge of the forest. The trees are clustered together almost looking like an impenetrable barrier, but Iida is sure his voice can carry itself past the leaves and branches.

“Bakugou Katsuki, barbarian of the forest!” Iida calls out with the loudest voice he can muster. “If you can hear me, I’m here to challenge you!”

That ought to get his attention.

If Iida’s voice was loud enough to carry all the way to Bakugou’s ears, that is. He has no idea how long he should wait to see if Bakugou will show up to the forest’s edge. Perhaps he’s waited too late to make this decision.

But surprisingly, Bakugou steps out from behind a nearby tree just a moment later. Like he’d been waiting for Iida to come back.

“What d’ya want?” he asks, watching him warily, fingers curled like he’s on guard for a fight.

Iida fiddles with his glasses once more, trying to find the right words to explain. Too bad he didn’t have time to sit down and write a whole essay on what he’s feeling. But maybe the best course of action is just to not think about it at all and simply speak. In the worst case scenario, he at least knows he can take Bakugou in another fight if necessary.

“I would like to formally challenge you to accompany the prince and I on the rest of our journey,” Iida blurts out. “That is, if you have the time. And want to. I mean, I know I want you to, because I think you’re a very interesting and attractive person and I would like to get to know you better. But I understand if you say no and never want to see me again.”

Bakugou looks stunned briefly before breaking into a sort of ominous-looking grin. “You think I’m attractive?” he says smugly.

“That’s the part you focus on here?”

Bakugou actually laughs, a loud warm-sounding laugh that somehow manages to make Iida relax a bit.

“I guess you’re kinda interesting too… for a stick in the mud,” Bakugou admits.

“Not attractive?”

The barbarian half-laughs, half-scoffs. “I guess I’ll have to figure that out while we’re traveling together,” he says, which makes Iida’s heart do an excited backflip.

“So you’ll be joining us?”

“I got nothing better to do right now,” he answers. He glances over his shoulder and nods at something too far away for Iida to see. Then he steps up beside Iida. “Let’s go. I accept your challenge.”

“You don’t have to pack?” Iida asks.

“Nah,” Bakugou shakes his head as he starts walking up the road, heading toward where Todoroki is still waiting with the horses. “Kirishima’s gonna go grab my stuff and drop it off later.”

Ah, that explains the signal a moment ago to someone deeper in the woods. Hm… Bakugou apparently really had been waiting around just to see if Iida would return. He’d already been preparing for the possibility.

Iida smiles. He didn’t set out on this journey expecting to meet a mysterious stranger in the woods, brimming with burning determination, but he’s excited to see where things go from here.

“Hello Bakugou, nice of you to join us,” Todoroki greets when they arrive.

Bakugou glares at the prince. “I ain’t here for you.”

“Oh I’m well aware of that, and would prefer you keep it that way,” he replies, and then turns to Iida with a rare sly smile. “By the way, Iida, you know… there’s only one horse.”

“There’s only one horse?” Iida repeats. It takes a moment for him to realize that Todoroki is pointing out that he and Bakugou will have to ride together. He and Bakugou will be pressed up against each other in the saddle as they continue their trek down the dusty old path leading to their destination.

Iida feels his face grow warm at the thought.

“Oh, shut up, Half-and-Half,” Bakugou scowls as he grabs a hold of Iida’s hand and climbs into the saddle. “Iida and I can share the horse, no problem. I’m sure it’s a fuck-ton better than riding with you.”

Iida scrambles to follow Bakugou, who takes the reins and forces Iida to sit behind him. Iida would rather be the one in charge of guiding the horse, but he doesn’t have the energy to argue just now. He wraps his arms around Bakugou’s waist to keep his balance instead.

“You called me by my actual name,” he says quietly.

“Yeah well, you came back for me,” Bakugou replies. “So I guess you’ve earned it. For now. Maybe you’ll lose those privileges if I beat you in our next fight.”

“We’ll see,” Iida chuckles.

He leans forward, resting his chin on Bakugou’s shoulder, looking at the open road ahead of them. He knows where they’re headed, but getting there is going to be an interesting adventure now that Bakugou’s along for the ride too.

“You two are disgustingly cute,” Todoroki says with a resigned sigh. “I already have regrets about this.”

“Disgusting?!” Bakugou growls, shaking a threatening fist towards the prince.

Iida grabs his fist and gently pushes it back down before turning to Todoroki with a smile, “I suppose that you’ll just have to get used to it.”