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Katsuki prowls around the cage. They wheel him down a hallway and come to an abrupt halt in front of a set of double doors. He growls at their careless treatment, but they ignore him. The head guard steps forward to knock on the door.
“Come in!” a nervous female voice calls out moments later.
As the doors swing open, some of the soldiers’ postures relax. Katsuki throws his weight to the left side. They cry out in alarm and scramble to prevent the cage from tipping over. He recovers his balance and moves faster than them.
The cage crashes to the ground, door springing open.
Just as Katsuki lunges for freedom, the head guard jabs a baton into Katsuki’s ribs and electrocutes him. The shock forces him to the ground. While he’s spasming, the soldiers easily shut the door, cutting out his route to freedom.
He growls, channeling as much menace he can muster, and receives another jolt for his efforts.
The head guard sneers down at him before turning to the occupants of the room, a wide-eyed girl with short brown hair and a delicate-looking boy with messy green hair.
“Sorry, Your Highness. This one is a rowdy one. Purebred Alpha. We caught him attacking a caravan two days ago,” the head guard sniffs in disgust. “Prince Shigaraki has sent him to you as a Gift.” Katsuki’s lips curl in a slight snarl. He’s nobody’s property.
The boy’s hands move in strange patterns, the girl intently watching, before she turns to the guard. “While His Highness appreciates the gesture, Prince Midoriya declines the generous offer.”
They start to turn away, obviously dismissing the group, but the head guard’s voice has them turning back. “Prince Shigaraki also bade me inform you that should you refuse his Gift this time, the lion shall be executed. If you free this hybrid, he will be hunted down and killed.” He shrugs indifferently. His eyes and posture are not deferential in the slightest, Katsuki notes, resolutely ignoring that this scrawny human Prince holds his fate in his tiny, weak hands.
Death might be preferable to a life in captivity.
His fur prickles with heat under the Prince’s scrutiny. He meets the human’s gaze evenly and snarls defiantly. To his surprise, the corners of the Prince’s lips quirk in a quick smile, before he turns to the girl and his hands move again. Katsuki watches warily, as the girl nods and faces the guard.
“Very well. Prince Midoriya will… accept this Gift. Please relay his gratitude and appreciation to Prince Shigaraki.”
The head guard bows mockingly. “Of course.” He gestures for the soldiers to move Katsuki’s cage into the room, against the wall. Katsuki’s too taken aback by the fact that he’s now some Prince’s possession to struggle. They set him down roughly, jarringly, before bowing to the Prince and leaving.
The door shuts loudly behind them.
Katsuki’s tail flicks sharply back and forth as Prince Midoriya approaches his cage. His muscles tense as he prepares to lunge forward—if he kills this human, the soldiers will rush in and kill him. He’ll be free from this humiliation.
And yet, as the human opens the doors, their eyes meet. Effervescent green. The green of grass after rain, sparkling with some… emotion that Katsuki can’t identify. Sorrow? Compassion? Whatever it is, it stills Katsuki’s claws and teeth. Stifles his burning rage.
His hands lift up and move in those strange patterns. Katsuki doesn’t know what they mean, but he’s entranced.
The spell breaks when the human Prince stands up, breaking their eye contact, and walks away. He stops briefly by the human girl before disappearing into a different room. Moments later, she steps forward, reeking of fear.
“Prince Midoriya requests that you don’t leave this room,” she says. “For your own safety.” She flees when he lifts his head and his eyes rove over her tiny body. Katsuki huffs, then lays down, and considers his options.
Katsuki spends the next several days watching, carefully observing and examining Prince Midoriya’s every action, tracking his every move, from the relative security of his position in the corner of the room, abiding by the Prince’s “request”. It’s the longest he’s spent in one form and the need, the desire, to shift is becoming an unbearable itch beneath his skin. But he’s safer in this full shift.
The human practices with a quarterstaff in the morning every day for two hours. His hands move lightning-speed as he communicates with the female human. He spends hours scribbling in his notebooks, reading through thick tomes. All the while, Katsuki can feel the heat of those viridescent eyes scorching his fur, the constant observation.
And every day, at lunch, Prince Midoriya sets a plate of steaks near Katsuki. He wants to be wary, but he can’t resist the hunger pangs clenching his stomach. Plus, it smells damn good.
His lion instincts are very satisfied by the human’s offerings, but Katsuki retreats to cold, rational human thought. This could all be just a trick.
The worst part of observing the human is noticing how everyone else treats him. Midoriya may be a Prince, but the title conveys him zero respect.
There’s a commotion outside the Prince’s chambers. Jeering laughter, small cries of pain. The Prince’s face pinches in distaste, before he rises to his feet and exits into the hallway.
Before Katsuki can catch a glimpse of what’s happening, the door swings shut.
If he shifts, he can open the door himself.
Katsuki’s barely made his decision when a large cry comes from the other side. His lion form seamlessly transitions to human, save for ears and a twitching tail. He throws open the doors and takes in the sight before him.
The Prince is standing, arms spread, his back to a cowering deer hybrid dressed in a maid uniform. Blood drips from a scratch on the Prince’s cheek. Two soldiers stand opposite the human, faces contorted with disgust.
“Get back in the room, filthy half-breed,” the soldier furthest away sneers, catching sight of him peeking out the door. “This doesn’t concern you, unless you’d also like a taste of our fists.”
Katsuki glances over at the Prince, who shakes his head minutely with wide, terror-filled eyes. Strangely enough, Katsuki feels like it’s not fear for himself, rather fear for Katsuki.
It churns Katsuki’s stomach that a human is worried about him, but the worst part is that he actually considers it. Continue the charade that he’s docile and harmless until he can seize his chance to escape.
“I think it’s you who needs to leave,” Katsuki drawls, letting his teeth elongate dangerously. “Before I kill you for touching the Prince. As his bodyguard, it would be my right.” One of the Kingdom’s laws that will work in his favor this once.
“Bodyguard?” the closer soldier scoffs. “Like anyone would believe that of an Uncollared.”
Katsuki’s lips curl; no one will ever collar him.
The soldier turns away then, obviously dismissing him, and raises his hand to the Prince. Before his strike lands, Katsuki surges forward. His grip tightens until the soldier cries out. The other soldier rushes in to help. Katsuki snaps the soldier’s arm. He lets go to grab the incoming swing, using the momentum to spin the soldier around and slam his face into the wall.
The hybrid’s victorious smile is predatory. “Big talk from such weaklings.” He takes a step towards the soldier whose arm he broke. A hand on his forearm halts his movement. Katsuki nearly attacks first, but stops last moment, recognizing the Prince. He’s staring up at Katsuki with wide, clear eyes. Though he doesn’t speak, his intentions are obvious.
Katsuki growls and shakes off the human. Fine. This is just a new charade for him to follow. He can do that.
The Prince moves in front of Katsuki, crossing his arms with a hard glare down at the two dazed soldiers. The tension visibly leaves his spine once they hobble around the corner.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” a small voice whispers behind them. The deer hybrid.
Katsuki watches as the Prince turns around and nods to her. His smile is weaker, eyes overcast with worry. She curtsies before bounding away. The Prince gestures to the room, but he heads in without waiting for Katsuki’s reply. The lion hybrid doesn’t hesitate; he follows the Prince into the room.
The door thuds shut behind him. The Prince heads for his notebook, flipping it open and scrawling something onto it. He holds up the finished product for Katsuki.
“Deku,” Katsuki reads aloud.
The Prince’s face turns bright red. He quickly pulls the notebook back, his fingers flying to write something new, and then he holds it up again.
Katsuki reads the new letters. “I-zu-ku.” The Prince nods happily, pulls it back again , and starting scrawling wildly.
Izuku, huh.
Deku fits him better. The useless Prince.
He loses patience with Deku’s scribbling and snatches the notebook out of his hands. A headache immediately blooms in his head at the cluttered, messy page filled with uneven, twisting lines, half of which are crossed out. His eyes skim over everything, the notebook aloft in one hand, while the other one fends off against Deku who lunges to take it back.
A frown tugs on the corners of his lips that quickly shifts into a snarl. Deku wants to put him in a fucking collar? His snarl deepens, ears flattening, as he reads through the logic of Deku’s request. The soldiers will no doubt run to that fucker Shigaraki or even the King. If Katsuki is wearing a collar, it will be proof that his actions were on Deku’s behalf.
Like I said earlier, while you’re alive, there’s hope . Deku had never spoken to him—oh. The nonsensical hand motions? Is that what he means?
What else is there in this notebook that Deku’s always attached to? Katsuki starts to flip to the next page. The Prince slips under his arm and snatches the notebook back, clutching it to his chest with wide eyes, his cheeks engulfed with fire.
“So, you want to collar me?” he demands. A not altogether unpleasant shiver works its way down his spine at the thought of Deku collaring him. He steadfastly ignores it.
When Deku starts to open his notebook, Katsuki forces it closed. “No. Look me in the eyes and nod either yes or no. Do you want to collar me ?”
Deku looks up and meets his eyes with a sudden fierceness. He shakes his head once. There’s no hint of deception. The Prince doesn’t want to collar him.
But he must, if Katsuki is to survive.
“Fine. If we’re gonna fucking do this, you might as well know my name,” the hybrid grinds out. “I’m Bakugou Katsuki.” Deku smiles widely, his mouth moving slowly to enunciate ‘nice to meet you’. Katsuki’s tail twitches angrily as Deku runs to grab the offensive garment. Death might be preferable at this point.
Somehow, his body moves when Deku reappears, though his instincts are screaming at him to run, and he magnanimously allows Deku to fit the collar around his neck. It’s unbearably noticeable each time he breathes. Is the heat travelling along his spine indignation or interest? Deku is close enough to smell. Katsuki leans forward into the crook of Deku’s neck and inhales; his sweet scent soothes some of the anxiety slogging through Katsuki’s blood.
Katsuki wakes the next morning on a bed made out of clouds. He rolls onto his stomach and then arches his back with a large yawn. His lips smack together. A light snore startles him fully awake.
His tail swishes against the blanket, as he stares down at Deku in confusion. When had Deku—No, when had Katsuki climbed into bed with Deku? Katsuki glares down at the human. It’s his fault for being so… nice . If he’d been a shitty human like the rest of them, it would have been so much easier to hate him.
Maybe it’s just a façade. Deku’s only pretending to be nice to get Katsuki to lower his guard before he betrays him.
Katsuki’s lips curl in a snarl. He should just kill Deku now and be done with it all. Even if Deku isn’t favored, it would still be shameful for a member of the royal family to be killed by a hybrid. It would be easy enough. Just place his jaws around Deku’s neck and bite down.
He doesn’t bite down, his teeth press lightly into the skin, hot breath fanning over Deku’s throat. Deku wakes up. Katsuki expects him to react with fear, but the human doesn’t even shift, just meets his eyes steadily. Even when Katsuki bites down a little harder, Deku doesn’t flinch or struggle.
This human has really bad self-preservation.
There’s a knock on the doors. Katsuki reluctantly lets Deku go, transitioning to his human form and reclining back on the bed. He can always kill him later. Deku scrambles out of bed, his face bright red, and he runs into the adjacent room, the door slamming shut just as Deku’s maid walks in.
“What did you do to him?” she demands hotly.
“Nothing, round cheeks,” he sneers.
“My name is Uraraka Ochako.” She glares at him and knocks on the door.
“He obviously doesn’t want to be disturbed. Come here and teach me that hand language you two use instead.”
“Fine,” she snaps after a moment when the door doesn’t unlatch. “But only because it’d be useful if you understood him. Do your best to keep up.”
“Do your best not to bore me back to sleep.”
When Katsuki wakes up on the bed for a fourth day in a row, he might have to start accepting the fact that Deku’s bed is comfortable. Only that the bed is comfortable. Nothing else.
Less comfortable than usual, though. Two lumps dig into his eerily rumbling stomach. Something digs into his mane and scratches against his skin. Oooooh, yeah, that’s the spot. His hind leg thumps against the bed. The two lumps shake.
Katsuki quickly comes to two conclusions: one, he’s purring ; two, the reason for that is Deku, who’s petting him. Like a tame housecat. He is a ferocious Alpha lion! Then Deku’s hands strike the sweet spot again, Katsuki’s leg twitching again, and Katsuki’s anger dissolves.
It’s almost, sort of, kind of… nice.
He’ll allow it for now. But in one minute, he’s definitely reminding Deku that he’s not to be trifled with.
In one minute.
Barely ten seconds later, Katsuki falls back asleep, still purring.
Several days later, Katsuki wakes up to Deku’s head pillowed on his stomach. Katsuki shifts with a frown, Deku’s head falling to his lap. The human only burrows in closer, a slight shiver wracking his thin frame. Thin, but still muscular. He’s a lot more capable with the quarterstaff than he seems to let on.
Deku shivers again. Katsuki huffs, picking up the blanket and tossing it over Deku, whose notebook flops open. He doesn’t even hesitate to pick it up and start flipping through it.
It’s mostly— him . Black and white sketches of him in his lion form, his hybrid form in various positions. Deku has a keen eye for proportions and perspective. He notices little notes in the margins.
What color are Kacchan’s eyes
Sunflower? Ash? Golden? Sandy?
Kacchan likes to yell
Kacchan caught me when I tripped
Kacchan has really nice teeth
Kacchan’s ears turn red when he’s embarrassed
Kacchan signed hello to me today! Then he called me an idiot!
Kacchan walked out of the bathroom today NAKED
NAKED NAKED NAKED NAKED NAKED
Deku, like all humans, seems to have a strange fascination with Katsuki’s nakedness. He’d definitely be unable to cope back at the compound. Still, Katsuki is pleased by the amount of attention Deku is devoting to him, though he still squashes the rising purr. No need to let on just how much it pleases him.
Instead he focuses on the irritation of such a little kid, cutesy nickname. Kacchan . What would that sound like falling from Deku’s lips?
His nails lengthen and sink into the paper, as he unwittingly remembers the way Deku’s throat had moved against his teeth.
Katsuki quickly flips to the next page. It’s covered with words. His eyes take a moment to adjust to the chaos before he can start following the progression of the rambling.
The notebook slips from his slack fingers. Rambling they may be, but they shake Katsuki to his core. This is—Katsuki snatches the notebook back up and flips through the rest of the notebook.
Prince Midoriya has filled the pages with policy changes. Laws, hybrid ownership, taxes, economical, military strategy. Everything a Crown Prince should be aware of, Deku has plans for it. Intelligent plans. Katsuki’s fingers take him back to the hybrid ownership section. If this were to be enacted, hybrids would be… free. Forever.
In that moment, Katsuki makes a decision. He no longer cares if this is just an elaborate trap to get him to lower his guard before betraying him. If Deku can free hybrids, Katsuki will do anything and everything in his power to place Deku on the throne.
Katsuki immediately begins his hunt. Over the next several days, he sticks close to Deku. He shares his scent—sleeping in lion form next to Deku, brushing his tail against Deku’s wrist when Katsuki walks by him, finds any excuse to touch Deku’s neck—shares his meals, and focuses on learning the hand signs. Anything to bring him closer to the Prince and prove that whatever Deku’s planning, Kacchan will back him up.
Half the time, Deku accepts his attention. The other half, he runs away with a bright red face.
It’s only by sheer luck that Katsuki manages to inhale at the right time. He’d thought the nerd was angry with him every time he ran away. Instead, it’s the opposite.
Deku smells of interest .
After a few minutes of soul-searching, Katsuki realizes that he’s interested back .
The features that had just been plain are now expressive, the green hue of his eyes and hair that had just been dull are vibrant, the vibration of his soundless laughter is intoxicating, and the weight of his gaze, once irritating, is now captivating. Katsuki craves more, he craves it all .
Just as he’s having this epiphany, there’s a heavy knock on the door.
Deku stumbles out of the other room, with a frantic glance at Katsuki, and hurries to the door. Katsuki remembers the way he’s seen other Hybrids hold themselves. He swallows his pride and stands at attention, hovering blankly at Deku’s shoulder. The soldier’s eyes prickle across Katsuki’s skin, and the lion Hybrid forces his ears and tail to remain motionless, while inside, he’s recounting all the ways he could kill this man and make it look like an accident.
“Greetings, your Royal Highness,” the soldier grunts with a perfunctory bow. “A missive from His Majesty.” He straightens and holds out a scroll.
Deku accepts it with a nod. When the soldier starts to turn away, Deku’s hands move. Katsuki provides the voice.
“Did I dismiss you, soldier?”
The soldier stiffens, uncertainty wafting over to Katsuki’s nose. “My apologies, your Highness.” Katsuki has vicious thoughts about the lack of respect the palace staff shows Deku.
Deku makes a show of opening the missive and reading it over. Katsuki resists the urge to read it over Deku’s shoulder. After several long minutes, Deku closes up the scroll.
His hands move quickly. “Thank you for delivering this message. Dismissed.”
The soldier’s bow is deeper, more respectful this time.
Katsuki watches him walk away. As soon as the door closes, he relaxes with a growl, shaking away the stiffness. He loops an arm around Deku’s neck and nuzzles his face into it.
“So, what does his Royal Asswipe want with you?”
Deku slips out of his grasp, rounding on him with a cute, shocked expression, red crawling up his cheeks to his ears. You should not refer to my father that way, Kacchan.
Katsuki scoffs. “Whatever. Quit avoiding the question.”
I’m not. It’s just. He wants to meet you. In three days, we’re to present ourselves to my father.
The Hybrid blinks. That’s… wholly unexpected. “What the fuck does his Royal Jerkoff want with me ?”
Deku doesn’t even bother to scold him this time. He’s aware of everything that happens in the castle. My brother gifted me a rogue Alpha. I accepted a hybrid, which I had never done before.
“And never will,” Katsuki interrupts with a scowl.
Deku’s forehead crinkles in confusion before he continues, You declared yourself to be my bodyguard. It’s little wonder he’s… curious. Katsuki catches his hands before the Prince can continue and frowns when he feels the hands tremble.
“Deku… Izuku , look at me,” Katsuki says softly. He waits until those green eyes lock with his red ones. “When we meet your father, we’ll get him to make you Crown Prince. Don’t say anything, listen .” Katsuki doesn’t let Deku pull away.
The human’s eyes crinkle in confusion and fear, but the hybrid presses on. “I read through your notebook. What you have there is fucking brilliant .” He slams his forehead into Deku’s when Deku tries to shake his head in a refusal. Deku’s eyes take on a watery sheen. “It is brilliant. Your asshole of a brother can’t be allowed to take the throne. The hybrids need you, Izuku. This kingdom needs you.”
This time, when Deku pulls away, Katsuki lets him go. It’s a lot that he’s throwing at the human. Deku flees into the side room, the door locking with a definitive click behind him.
“Do you mean it?” the human girl demands behind him. Fur ripples across Katsuki’s body, his teeth lengthening, as he whirls on the unexpected intruder. “You want to make him the Crown Prince?”
He shakes away the shock, his fur and teeth receding, and he nods.
“Good.” There’s a hard look in her eyes that Katsuki appreciates. “If you’re meeting the King in three days, there’s a lot you have to learn.”
Katsuki smirks. “Do your worst, human.”
The King’s eyes as they move over Deku are cold and disinterested. Rage starts to heat up Katsuki’s blood; he quickly averts his gaze.
Deku signs out his greeting with a deep bow.
“Greetings, your Imperial Majesty,” Katsuki says for him, focusing on Deku’s hands. They are steady. “I am honored you called for me.”
“Second Prince Midoriya, We’ve summoned you before Us because an interesting rumor has reached Our ears,” the King says. “The rumor that Our son has finally accepted a Hybrid slave. And tamed it.”
It.
Time to see how Deku would respond. The human had been avoiding him the past three days. Would he choose to make a bid for the throne or continue to hide away?
Deku’s hands start to move.
“It was time I grew up and stopped rebelling, your Majesty,” Katsuki repeats Deku’s silent words. There’s no trace of any resentment over the King’s casual cruelty or his pride over Deku’s choice. “It was time I started acting like a Prince.”
“Hybrid, approach Our person and present yourself,” King Midoriya orders. The blood rushes to Katsuki’s ears. His footsteps echo dully through his skull. He cannot fuck this up, cannot show any sign of the disdain screaming in his heart. Katsuki’s ears and tail remain motionless. When he comes to a stop on the step before the King’s throne, he drops to his knees.
If the King calls you before him, you must bare your throat . Uraraka’s words repeat clamorously. Bare your throat . Bare your throat .
All his instincts scream for him to fight. Katsuki thinks of the way Deku smiled tremulously before they left the Prince’s rooms, the way he’d woken curled up against Deku. The future they can build together is worth any price.
Katsuki tilts his head and bares his neck.
It takes all his willpower to stifle his reaction when the King reaches out and touches him.
“Our son has indeed done well with this specimen,” the King declares. “It pleases Us that you have begun to accept your destiny. Humans are superior to these half-breeds.”
The doors to the hall slam open. “Father! I’d heard you summoned my useless brother!” Scents of fear and insecurity reach Katsuki’s nose, along with the scents of three Hybrids: a monkey, a snake, and a cheetah. The King straightens, dismissing Katsuki. He retreats steadily, resuming his… place behind Deku.
“Prince Midoriya is right, Crown Prince Shigaraki .” The King’s voice casts a wintry chill over the room. “It would do you well to exercise some restraint when facing your King.” Prince Shigaraki. The asshole who’d captured Katsuki and given him to Deku. The King’s son from a concubine, whereas Deku is the son of the King and the Queen. Poor temperament, poor lineage. No wonder he’s so insecure.
“My apologies, Your Majesty,” Shigaraki immediately says, shooting a glare at Deku. “Let’s see how well-trained that thing is then.”
Katsuki watches as the human marches towards him and raises his hand. A million ways to counteract the slap cross his mind. Most of them end with Shigaraki’s death.
No matter what happens, you must not harm any of the nobles or royalty , he recalls Uraraka’s instructions again.
Deku better bring him the best steaks in the castle after this is over.
Shigaraki’s palm cracks across Katsuki’s cheek; it hurts his pride more than anything else. He endures another three strikes before Deku steps in, catching his half-brother’s wrist and pushing him away.
“The Hybrid belongs to me, Crown Prince Shigaraki,” Deku says through Katsuki. “Please refrain from touching him without my consent.” Rage contorts Shigaraki’s face and his hand flies towards Deku. Katsuki nimbly steps between the brothers and takes the blow meant for Deku.
“Shigaraki Tomura,” the King’s voice is booming, yet he doesn’t speak any louder. “It seems the power of Crown Prince has gone to your head. How dare you try to harm your brother?” There’s a distinct undercurrent of anger to the King’s words. Shigaraki flinches away. Katsuki steps back, feeling frayed, close to the limits of what he can tolerate. “Are we peasants, commoners, hybrids , that our persons can be so easily tarnished? Prince Midoriya, We will allow you the chance to return the insult.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for the honor. However, I do not dare harm another Royal. I would ask your blessing to choose a different retaliation.”
“Granted.”
Deku turns to Katsuki and looks him in the eye. Katsuki can see the strain building, though his expression doesn’t show it. His fingers move to sign: Crush the hybrids .
Katsuki nods sharply, then turns towards Shigaraki’s retinue. He bares his fangs and lunges for them.
As soon as they enter Deku’s chambers, Uraraka takes one look at them and skedaddles. Smart human. Katsuki snags the collar of Deku’s shirt and drags him to the bed. It groans under their weight and creaks again when Katsuki shifts. He digs his nose into the crook of Deku’s neck and lets out a heavy sigh.
After a moment, Deku’s hands thread through his mane and gently stroke him.
He hadn’t expected meeting the King to be a fucking walk in the park, but it had been so much worse than he’d anticipated. His skin crawls just remembering the slimy touch of King Midoriya’s hand. His paws tingle remembering the way he’d brutalized those innocent Hybrids almost to death. None of them had fought back.
This only strengthens his resolve. He’s sure he’ll have to do things like this and worse to help Deku gain the throne. If it means freedom, he can shoulder that burden.
Something wet drips onto his ear. Katsuki shifts to his humanoid form.
Shimmering green eyes look back at him.
Deku’s hands start to move. Kacchan, I can’t do this. That was awful. The King didn’t even blink. And he touched you. I hate this. Let’s just retire to the countryside and forget about this.
“It was awful, Deku,” Katsuki whispers. “But you’re not alone. I’ll support you, and you’ll support me. You’re mine now. We can’t give up. Think of the difference we can make.”
If Shigaraki takes the throne, there will be untold suffering to appease his appetite for cruelty . Tears spill from the corners of his eyes, but they’re set in resolve now. You’ll stand by my side ?
Katsuki leans forward and brushes their lips together. He pulls back to see Deku’s cheeks erupt with a fiery red.
“I said you’re mine now, nerd. You won’t get rid of me easily.”
I’d never want to get rid of you, Kacchan . Then Izuku leans up and kisses him. Katsuki returns the kiss hungrily.
The road will be long. It will be hard, it will be painful. But as long as they’re together, they’ll keep fighting for a better future for humans and hybrids alike.