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They're not going to make it.
Katsuki pants, trying not to cough up more blood. He’s hunched over, protecting his stomach and his bruised ribs.
Next to him, Uraraka’s teeth are chattering. It’s clear that she's low on magic. Katsuki isn't sure she has enough left to even lift a fucking pebble at this point.
He can see Deku struggling to stand. His arms buckle under him, and he falls to the ground with a grunt.
Todoroki rushes over to protect him from the next attack. But his ice is weak and breakable. Blood trickles from his nose. His hands are shaking.
Deku weakly calls for him. “Todoroki…”
Katsuki meets the Prince's eyes. They're grim. They both know. They're on the losing end of the fight.
Shigaraki laughs, the dry sound echoing around the small destroyed area. He stands before them, his arms spread. Besides the small scar above his eyes, he doesn’t look like he had been in a fight.
A far cry from the rugged way the five of them look. Katsuki grits his teeth. Damn it. They should have listened to Aizawa.
The old assassin had warned them not to take the mission. That it would be too much for them. Of course, Katsuki had ignored that. In fact, it just made him want to do it more.
Who can beat a Barbarian King?
It turns out, a newly awakened demon king can. He’s slow, still learning how to use his limbs, so at least he can’t charge them. But that doesn’t stop him from blasting powerful magical attacks that slice through clothes and flesh as he shambles towards them.
Katsuki huffs, taking stock of everyone again. They need to get out of here and fast. As much as he hates running away, he hates losing even more.
Kirishima is knocked out, a few feet from Deku. Uraraka is done for. Deku is trying to stand back up, but is seriously hurt. Todoroki and him are the only ones still on their feet.
Katsuki bites his bottom lip. With Kirishima out, that means no dragon from to get away. Uraraka’s magic is depleted, so they can’t fly on their own. He might be able to carry Kirishima but he doubts the others can run on their own.
He also doubts that Shigaraki will let them go. Not after they worked him up like this. The young Demon Lord will hunt them down, lazy and smug with the knowledge that they can’t get away. Which means…
Katsuki grits his teeth, dreading running through him. There is one way. Only one way that they get out of this alive.
While his old hag had taught him how to fight, it was his father who taught him magic. Katsuki only cared about learning offensive magic, especially ones that involve fire, and his father had been ok with that. For the most part.
There had been one defensive spell his father insisted on teaching him. Katsuki would have thrown a fit, but his father had been…serious. Quiet. Stern.
Even a younger more prideful Katsuki knew that his father was not going to budge on this. And that he should listen.
But Katsuki had always vowed to never use it. His ego wouldn’t let him. His self preservation also wouldn’t. The spell was dangerous, only to be used in the most desperate of times, which is probably why his father had insisted on him learning it.
“I saved your mother’s life with it,” Masaru had told him, as he gently held his hands. His voice was soft. There was a hidden lair of pain to it. A young Katsuki had watched him, with a frown on his face. “It’s the only time I ever managed it and she forbade me from ever using it again. But I was happy I learnt it. I know, one day, you will be too.”
“Do not tell your mother I’m teaching it to you.”
Katsuki didn't know what that had meant at the time. But here, now, looking down death’s door, he suddenly realizes why his father called it his most painful spell.
Taking a deep breath, he stands up straighter. “Uraraka,” he says, making sure his voice is steady. “Can you reach Kirishima?”
Uraraka looks behind her, still panting. Sweat is dripping down her face and she looks like she’s going to fall over at any moment. But she nods. “I can.”
“Good, stay by him.”
Uraraka looks at him. Stares at the side of his face. “What are you planning to do?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he snaps. “Just do it. I’ll cover you.”
He raises his hand, firing off a couple of fire spells. Shigaraki bats them away. But the focus is on him, Shigaraki slowly lumbering his way closer. Which means Uraraka is free to fall back, checking up on Kirishima.
Katsuki nods his head. Closing his eyes, he thinks of his father. He had promised to bring home trinkets from his travel this year when he goes back to visit his clan. He gave them to Kirishima to hold onto, in their bags back at the adventurer's guild.
Hopefully, the dragon hybrid takes them back for him.
Muttering under his breath, he pulls on his magic. This time, he does not feel the heat of fire burning in his veins, does not feel smoke in his lungs.
Instead, he smells flowers. Instead, he feels a cool gentle breeze.
“What’s the point of learning a spell you can only use on other people? Seems like a waste,” Young Katsuki asks, pouting up at his father. The spell isn’t working for him and it’s frustrating. Stupid too. Since when would he ever want to use a spell for someone else? He rubs the back of his hand across his nose. “Just teach me a spell to teleport myself away.”
“You don’t run away from fights,” his dad reminds him, a small twitch to his lips. He bends down, taking out a piece of cloth and instructing Katsuki to blow.
Katsuki’s bottom lip juts out. “Then why do I have to learn this stupid spell?”
“Just because you can’t do it on the first try doesn’t mean that it’s stupid.” Marasu sighs. He kneels down in front of Katsuki and takes his hands. “Do you know why I have only used this spell once?”
Katsuki had shook his head.
“It’s because I loved your mother. I loved her so much that I didn’t want to see her hurt. I loved her so much I would die for her. I never regretted using the spell, even if she may have yelled at me a few times.”
“I know that one day, you are going to have someone- or maybe someones- that you are so desperate to save. So I want you to learn this spell.”
Young Katsuki had sighed. “Finnneeee, old man. Tell me how to do it again.”
Masaru had softly laughed. “Ok. Step one. Center yourself.”
Young Katsuki had. Older Katsuki does now too.
“Step two, think of the person you want to use the spell on. Think of how much you want to keep them safe. That feeling is a must. The spell won’t work, not unless you would risk your life to keep this person safe.”
Katsuki lets out a slow breath. Kirishima, his first friend. The one that never put up with his bullshit, but was always willing to follow him around. The first person that Katsuki ever felt to actually like him for him.
For weeks, it had just been the two of them, traveling together. They ate together. Fought together. Bathed together. Were forced to sleep on the same bed.
They were…close. Katsuki couldn’t see traveling with anyone else.
Uraraka had always supplied them with the things they needed. When Katsuki and Kirishima had joined up with the Adventurer's Guild, they had been assigned Uraraka as their witch. Katsuki had not been impressed the first time.
She had seemed too…weak. But at least her potions were good, even if they did make anyone who drank them sick.
And then they had to take her out on a big quest. Katsuki got to see her fight for the first time. It was rough around the edges, and she clearly needed some training, but she wasn’t afraid to throw a punch. And whenever she got knocked down, she always got back up.
The two had grown to be trusted friends along his journey. They had done many quests together over the years. He wouldn’t have any other witch at his back.
His fingers press against a flower petal. Looking down at it, he sees that it’s transparent, a light orange color. He doesn’t know if anyone else can see it.
It is a piece of his soul after all.
He brings it up to his lips and then he throws it back, at where he knows Kirishima and Uraraka are.
“What the-” Is all Uraraka gets out. And then, flowers around her and Kirishima bloom. An orange light appears from beneath them. And they disappear.
“Bakugou,” Todoorki says. “What was that?”
Katsuki looks over his shoulder, to see that Todoroki has Deku now standing. Deku is leaning heavily on the Prince.
He also looks horrified. “Kacchan…”
Deku is the one person who knows about the spell. Katsuki gives him a smirk. “You better get him next time, Deku. Or I’m haunting your ass.”
Deku tries to take a step towards him but his leg buckles. Todoroki catches him at the right time, to keep him standing.
Katsuki jumps out of the way, just as Shigaraki tries to stab him. Shigaraki hits the ground, his hand piercing through it. He cackles, even as he struggles to take it out. “What do you think you’re doing, little Barbarian? Trying to get away?”
“Not on your life,” Katsuki calls back. He shoots off a couple more blasts of fire magic. They hit Shigaraki in the side, sending him flying into a tree. The demon seems to slump. Katsuki isn’t stupid enough to think the Demon Lord is going to back down.
But it gives him enough time to start concentrating on the spell again.
Well try. He can’t when he hears Deku scream “Kacchan, no! You don’t have to do this.”
“You said you’re going to defeat the Demon King,” Katsuki grunts out. He keeps his eyes closed. Reaches for those petals, inside of him. “You need to be alive to do that.”
He thinks of his father. He wishes he would have learned more defensive spells from him.
He wishes he would have learned more recipes to cook.
He wishes he would have hugged him more.
His mother too. Even if they weren’t the most affectionate with each other, she has always tried to protect him. She taught him to defend himself. That he should always speak his mind, even if others do not like it.
She always loved him. And he loved her.
He wishes he got the chance to tell her that. That he is grateful that she raised him.
Once again, he closes his eyes and thinks of Todoroki. The spoiled Prince Katsuki thought he was. He didn’t want the other to join their Guild, had actively protested it, but they had put the two together anyways.
They hadn’t gotten along, of course. Katsuki, still so very prideful, thought the Prince was annoying. Cocky. He didn’t even know how to do even the basic stuff, like cook and clean. The spoiled Prince even complained about sleeping in bed rolls!
How Katsuki hated those days. It also didn’t help that the Prince was actually strong. Far stronger than Katsuki.
And then the two had gotten lost on a simple quest to track down a lost horse and ended up on a far more dangerous adventure of taking down a Vampire clan. It had forced them to work together, had forced each of them to face a past fear.
They became friends. Not best friends like Todoorki likes to say, but still. Friends.
Katsuki throws a petal back. In the next moment, Todoroki is gone.
With no one to hold him up, Deku falls to his knees. “Please,” Deku says. “Please don’t do this.”
Katsuki doesn’t look at him. He takes another deep breath. And he thinks of Deku.
No. He thinks of Izuku .
Izuku. The boy he laughed at when the other boy had declared that he was going to travel the world, to become the greatest Hero out there. Like their stories. What a ridiculous notion. Deku was too weak. Too spineless.
A coward.
When the idiot had showed up at the Adventurer's Guild, along with Todoroki, Katsuki had commanded him to fight him. That only by winning against Katsuki would he allow him to join his team.
He had wiped the floor with Deku, of course. But the other had put up a fight. Had punched Katsuki back. Had even shown some strategy.
Katsuki still didn’t want him to join. But the others had out voted him. His next option was to try to make Deku quit.
But the idiot was stubborn. Stubborn and rash to prove himself. He went on as many quests as Katsuki did. Spent every night training.
Katsuki still didn’t like it, but he had been forced to accept it.
And then forced to quietly admire the other.
And then forced to realize he was letting himself slack and that he needed to start training too if he wanted to catch back up to Deku.
For some reason, Deku never held it against him. Instead, he had continued to treat Katsuki as a friend. He cheered on Katsuki when the quests went well. Was sad for Katsuki when they went terrible. Celebrated every milestone Katsuki ever had.
It was strange. Katsuki didn’t know what to do with it. And overtime, they started to become…not friends, exactly. But something like it.
Katsuki had even been looking forward to defeating the Demon King with him. But like he said, you have to be alive in order to do that.
Katsuki will make sure he’s alive to do it.
A petal forms in his palm. He rubs it, smells it.
Behind him, Izuku is sobbing. Pleading. Begging for Katsuki to do anything but this.
"Take care of them, Izuku. You're a strong, dependable hero."
Katsuki throws the petal. He doesn't look to see as the portal takes Izuku away. The last thing he hears is Izuku shouting “No!”
Then he grins at Shigaraki. Shifts his stance. That spell had taken up all his magic. Now, he’s going to use his fists against a demon. “It’s just you and me.”
Shigaraki’s grin is wide, splitting his face. Around him, the air crackles. Power, so much power Katsuki can taste it on his tongue. “I am going to make you regret taking my prey away from me.”
Katsuki gives his own smile. Peace settles over him. He got everyone out safely. That’s all he needed. “And I’m going to make you regret hurting my friends.”
~
Katsuki sits there, back leaning against a tree that had been snapped in half during the fight. He’s looking down at the ground. The blood around him has dried.
It’s been a week since he faced off against Shigaraki. The fight took three days.
Katsuki would like to say he won. But really, Shigaraki was just forced to a stand still before getting a message from his master. He promised to track Katsuki down later, to finish this.
As soon as he left, Katsuki’s legs had wobbled. He fell to the ground. He had to crawl over to where he sits now. He’s too weak to move again.
He stares at the ground. He takes in a shaky breath. His eyes are going fuzzy.
But he holds on. Just a little bit longer.
“We’re almost there!”
With great difficulty, he raises his head. He has to blink a few times, but. He sees a dragon fly overhead. Catches sight of pink, green, and blue.
Katsuki’s lips twitch up. He takes in one last shaky breath.
They made it. They’re ok. That’s all he wanted to know.
His vision goes black. His body starts to fall to the side.
He did his duty. It’s ok for him to let go now.