Chapter Text
It continued for a while. Probably, much longer than it should have. There were more pressing matters to deal with, after all, than their insatiable need to touch each other.
Which they were sorely reminded of in the next moment.
Katsuki was still kissing her, making her head spin with the lack of oxygen he allowed them. His tongue tasting her to the best of his ability, as if he were a man just rescued from a desert, and she were some sort of oasis. It seemed that he couldn’t get enough of her.
Not that she was complaining. Because she sure as hell wasn’t.
In fact, she was probably just as desperate. Her fingers dancing lightly over his muscles, causing him to groan every once in a while. Everything about him was sending shivers down her spine, and sparks into her fingers. Her whole being was tingling, fully alive in a way she hadn’t been previously. Brought into being under the pressure of him. Of his hands traveling over her curves, and his teeth nibbling gently against her lip, and his heartbeat stuttering against her chest.
Yeah, they should probably stop. End this portion of their “talk” here.
But…
It was a lot easier said than done. Especially when they were both reluctant to allow any space to appear between them.
Quite reluctant.
But, of course, life waits for no one. Stops for no one. Not even Lady Uravity and The Wild King.
A knock on the door interrupted them. Caused Ochako to jolt—unpleasantly—in surprise. While Katsuki, on the other hand, grumbled a growl.
“Ignore it,” he suggested, nuzzling into the side of her neck. Kissing it gently as he said, “They’ll go away.”
Of course, he was wrong.
The knock came again, more insistent.
“Tch,” Katsuki huffed.
Clearly annoyed.
Grabbing Ochako around the waist, he pivoted as he picked her up. Effectively moving her away from the door so he could throw the bolt back, open the door a crack and yell, “WHAT THE FUCK D’YOU WANT?” at whoever was on the other side.
Wiggling against Katsuki’s iron grip—which loosened when he realized she was trying to move it—Ochako peeked around him to see who was at the door.
Of course.
It was poor Deku.
“Deku! You’re back!” Ochako shouted. Excited. Elated.
“Who the fuck cares?” Katsuki roared, glaring sharply at Deku. “We’re in the middle of a meeting, so, get the fuck out of here.”
“Uh, um,” Deku began, his face red. “Sorry Kacchan—”
“I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING CALL ME THAT YOU SHIT-HEAD.”
“—but the king wants to speak with Lady Uravity. It’s urgent,” Deku said, looking sheepish and slightly terrified.
Ah.
Honestly, Ochako didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay here—have an ACTUAL talk with Katsuki. Ask him all of her burning questions. Get answers from him.
…and also make out with him some more.
But…
If the king requested her presence, then…
Ochako tapped Katsuki’s arm, letting him know she needed to be released.
“Sorry Katsuki, if the king is calling me, then I have to go. Especially if he says it’s important,” she said, truly sorry. Missing their atmosphere already.
“Oh yeah? And what about me? What if I tell you to stay? I’m a king, too,” Katsuki complained.
Ochako smiled at him, thinking that he was adorable, and she saw his eyes waver. Stumble over his own stubbornness. Saw him back down, even if he didn’t vocalize it.
It was so cute, Ochako felt like her heart was imploding.
She patted him on the chest. Comfortingly, but, also, because she wanted to touch him again before she left.
“I’ll be back after the meeting, alright? You can wait here for me, I’ll have someone bring you some lunch—”
Stern, he shook his head. “No way. No fucking way. I’m not letting you out of my sight. If you’re leaving to go somewhere, I’m coming with, and I ain’t fucking budging on that. Got it? I’m coming, too.” The Wild King glared at Deku, as if daring him to tell Katuski he couldn’t.
Deku did not.
“We need to get moving,” Deku said instead, less scared, but still a little intimidated. “The king and the other generals are waiting.”
“Right,” Ochako said, motioning for Katsuki to follow her as she stepped out the door.
He did.
As Deku began muttering incessantly about what the meeting might hold for them, Ochako kept Katsuki in her peripheral vision. Kept glancing his way. As he followed next to her, she swears she saw him look…
Relieved.
It hit her so hard, that simple look.
It nearly took her breath away.
The meeting went on for…
A while.
In the end, it was actually a good thing Katsuki had attended as well. He had some excellent ideas about new counter-measures for the portal the villains could conjure. Additionally, he had some excellent insights into what the nature of the magical portal was. How it moved, how it worked, etc. All in all, it was a great meeting. It added to the morale of the generals, especially when Deku brought up the fact that he’d had success in finding one of the villain’s hubs. In fact, he’d brought back a giant monster—a creature that didn’t speak, but that was clearly once human. A creature that had been tainted and reconstructed using dark magics. Endeavor had immediately sent the castle’s best magic scholars to take a look at the thing, decide what it was that twisted it so.
“And, Wild King, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like for you to look at it as well,” Endeavor asked.
Not commanded.
Asked.
Katsuki nodded, face solemn. “I’ll take a look.”
The meeting adjourned shortly after that. And Ochako suddenly felt no relief.
Because now KATSUKI had duties to attend to. Which meant:
Their talk would be delayed even further.
Great.
As the other generals began trickling out of the throne room, she approached Katsuki. Or, maybe Katsuki approached her. It was hard to tell.
“I’ve gotta go check that thing out,” Katsuki told her, his face serious. “I was wondering if… you wanna come with?”
She smiled at how coy he was being. How sheepishly he asked. As if he were losing his nerve halfway through.
How could she say no to something as cute as that?
“Still not wanting to lose track of me?” she teased.
It put Katsuki right back on track.
Grinning madly, he said, “Exactly. Can’t have you sneaking away on me.”
She thought about saying something—about how that was his schtick, not hers—but decided not to. That’d be just a little bit too petty.
“Alright, I’ll go with,” she agreed easily instead.
Which was what lead them to the dungeon.
What lead them to the most hideous thing she’d ever seen.
A creature that looked to be made of tar sat in the cell. Eyes vacant. Motionless. It squatted, uncomfortable looking, as it stared. Its skull was busted open, exposing the brains on top of the creature’s head. Its long beak never moved, just grinned, showing off sharp teeth as it stared at nothing at all.
It was…
Horrifying.
Katsuki’s face scrunched up. “Damn. What the—how the hell did they DO this?” he questioned, squatting in front of the cell, observing the creature. Moving around a bit to get a fuller view.
“What… what is it?” Ochako asked, not really expecting an answer.
But, of course, Katsuki had one.
Standing up, he scratched at the scruff on his face—the scruff that was turning into a full beard at this point—and leaned one of his hands against the cell door. Gripped the bars above his head, as if to steady himself.
“It’s… tainted,” he said, as if searching for words. Searching for understanding. “This thing… it shouldn’t exist. Shouldn’t be alive at all. Those fucking necromancer bastards,” he muttered the last bit, shaking his head.
Ochako shuddered. Necromancer magic was… grotesque. Forbidden, and for a good reason. The very mention of it made the room turn cold. Unconsciously, she shuffled a little bit closer to Katsuki. Hoping the proximity would warm her soul.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Disturbing. Don’t you think?”
She nodded, affirming.
Releasing his hold on the gate, he nodded. “Let’s get back to your tower. I can explain more there.”
She followed him out of the dungeon, and then lead the way back. Their trek fitted with a heavy silence. The kind that loomed, speaking of something greater.
When they reached her study, Katsuki closed the door and bolted it behind them, face somber. Serious.
Almost… pained.
“Ochako,” he began, ruffling his hair before halting. Stopping briefly, unsure of how to proceed, before he started again. “Ochako that thing… that’s what the magic does to you.”
She blinked, confused. Not tracking at all.
“What?”
He nodded, closing in on her, taking her hands and squeezing them. As if to reassure himself.
“That’s what would’ve happened to you Ochako. If you drink pure magic, it twists you. Taints your being. Human bodies can’t handle the magic. You have pure, undiluted power for a few minutes, but then you morph into… THAT thing—or something very similar. And then, you die,” he squeezed her hands again as the information sank in. Leaning into her as she suddenly realized why he was so serious.
The Wild King tilted forward—as if exhausted—resting his forehead against hers. His gaze heavy on her.
“That’s why I told you not to do it. Why I was so mad—why I’m STILL mad. You think turning into one of those things is a picnic? That it doesn’t hurt? That’s it’s not the worst thing imaginable? Because it is. I’m sure of it—it’s fucking terrible. I’d never want that for you. Not for any reason,” he said firmly before kissing her forehead. Before he hugged her, causing her heart to swell up.
“Don’t ever think about doing some stupid shit like that. Ever. Not for any reason. You got it?”
With his heat surrounding her, and his scent—something sweet, like syrup, and musky, like a winter forest—clouding her mind, it was impossible to deny him.
“Okay,” she said.
And she felt him sigh. Felt his shoulders relax. Felt him release a tension she hadn’t known he’d been holding in.
“Good,” he breathed, his exhale warming her bones.
He pulled back so he could smile at her—or maybe so he could verify it was her, that she was still there. She couldn’t be sure.
But, when he did, she became focused. Aware of her burning questions. Drew connections to the monster she’d seen, and the monster he’d been.
She dove into her thoughts, not wanting to be interrupted again.
“Katsuki, that giant thing, the thing you became—what is that? Is that… magic, too?”
His smile turned sour in an instant. His shoulders hunching, as if to hide himself. Looking away, he reluctantly nodded to her.
“Yes. That’s magic.”
“But… what kind of magic? Are you a dragon? What are you?” she asked, careful to make her voice curious. Careful not to seem disturbed or upset.
Because she wasn’t.
This wasn’t a deal-breaking thing, his monstrous side. Not for her, anyway. She just simply wanted to know.
What was he?
He huffed a heartless laugh. “I’m The Wild King. Chosen by the magic, by the previous Wild King. My title isn’t something passed down through generations, it’s thrown on you at random. At least, it’s random to me, anyway,” he grumbled.
Stepping back, he leaned against her table, exhausted. Still unable to look at her, he crossed his arms and continued.
“Being The Wild King isn’t a title I created for myself. It’s a title passed on, complete with responsibilities.”
“Like keeping the magic safe?”
He nodded, looking at her briefly before continuing. “Yeah, like keeping the magic safe. You develop a sort of… relationship with it. Every Wild King has his own understanding of the magic, an understanding he has to try to grow. That he passes on to the next king that gets picked. The Wild Kings… they protect the magic. Understand it. And the magic ‘favors’ them,” he said the word as if it were venomous. Vile. A lie. “It fills them with power. Gives them boosts. Most humans have a finite ability for magic. A very small pool that can live inside them. Dragons, as I said before, are more like lakes. And Wild Kings? They’re like rivers. Oceans. Never the same, but always moving with the magic. The magic is always inside of them, and there’s a shitload of it. Not an infinite amount—my body is still partially human, so I can only use so much at a time or I’ll die. But we have a bigger capacity than most creatures.
“However,” he said, his voice changing. “We’re not exempt from its effects. Not entirely. That giant monster thing that I was? That’s a side effect. Like that thing in the dungeon, the magic changes me, too. Makes me a monster like that.”
The last part was so serious. So somber. So full of disgust.
Ochako couldn’t help herself.
She laughed once, surprising him.
Shaking her head, she clarified. “I saw what you were, and I saw that thing in the dungeon. You’re nothing alike.”
She recognized the look that overcame him then. The blushing, and the widening of his eyes, and that sudden hitching of his breath.
Like he was about to burst.
Overwhelmed with some kind of feeling.
“But… Ochako, if I lose my self-control—my emotions or whatever the hell—that can happen to me. The magic is always there, I just have to stop holding it back and it’ll turn me into something like that. Turn me back into a monster. Aren’t you even just a little bit concerned about that?”
She shook her head, fearless. Happy to see him so flustered. Happy to see him so overjoyed.
Though she wasn’t happy that he was denying himself that joy.
And, with how he kept looking down, he clearly was. Denying the truth she presented to him—that she didn’t mind his monster side. Denying that she could want him, despite it. He was denying himself the right to accept it. Accept her. Accept her feelings.
What happened to her Wild King, she wondered, that he would be so distrusting? That he would have so many reservations? That he thought it wrong that he could be loved?
It made her sad to think about it.
And made her determined:
She’d show him she was serious.
She’d show him.
As she sauntered up to him, she grinned at him, which made his face redder and his eyes grow wider.
“You’re nothing like that monster Katsuki. I don’t think you ever could be,” she told him, suddenly leaning up into his face. Just inches away from kissing him.
“Mm?” he questioned, totally drawn in. Completely stuck. Mesmerized by how close she was.
“Mhmm,” Ochako confirmed, her heart in a free fall as she smiled up at him. Her captured king. She nodded, placing her hands against his chest, palms flat, feeling how erratic his heartbeat was. How terribly hard it was trying to burst out of his chest.
So cute.
“You could never be that thing in the dungeon Katsuki,” she spoke, her lips ghosting over his, and she felt his breathless exhale, felt the way he leaned into her. Edging for her to finish her sentence.
“You’re much cuter than that thing.”
And then, she broke.
She kissed him.
His arms came uncrossed immediately, grabbing her and pulling her closer. Filling her lungs with his exhales as he clung to her. As he kissed her back, his tongue gliding over her lip.
She shuddered.
It felt so good.
So, so good.
Her hands were moving, giving shape to what she wanted. Searching for it, without her permission. Without her even fully understanding what it was they were searching for. They roved the expanse of his torso, memorizing the hard shape of his muscles, reaching around his back. Dying to feel more and more of him. Trying to find the source of their heat—
Her searching was interrupted again. As was their kiss.
The door pounded.
“Hey! Bakugou! I know you’re in there! Open up!”
Katsuki growled under his breath, and then roared, “GO THE FUCK AWAY FLAME-BRAIN, I’M BUSY.”
Ochako rolled her eyes, disappointed, but still reasonable. Already moving to open the door, she chastised him, “Don’t be ridiculous Katsuki. It could be important.”
“It’s not,” Katsuki assured her.
Ochako opened the door anyway.
As it turned out, Kirishima brought them dinner, and brought Katsuki some sort of magical potion that would help him recover his strength.
Ochako was grateful for both things.
And so was Katsuki—even though he pretended he wasn’t.
Evening fell upon them fast after that. The three of them spent a lot of time talking, and Kirishima congratulated them both on finally admitting their feelings for one another.
“That took FOREVER,” Kirishima whined, causing Ochako to blush and Katsuki to swear.
After a while, the trio became tired, and Kirishima dismissed himself.
“I’ve got a thing to go to anyway,” Kirishima said.
Katsuki scoffed. “Tch. You still with that pink girl?”
Turning his head sharply, Kirishima glared. “YES, I am. She’s the coolest! Anyway, later Ochako,” he called, and then traipsed out of her study. Shutting the door on the way out.
“He left in a hurry,” Ochako remarked.
“Yeah, he probably wants to give us ‘alone time’,” Katsuki shook his head, as if that were ridiculous.
It irked Ochako, for some reason. “You don’t want to have alone time?” she challenged, trying not to sound annoyed.
Katsuki looked surprised for a second—just a brief blink—and then he smirked, turning her insides to mush. When he spoke, his voice was heavy. Thick. Pouring heat over her as he spoke. “Oh, believe me Ochako, I’d like to have alone time with you. Days of it, actually.” She blushed, causing him to grin evilly and chuckle as he stood up.
Leaning over her, he pecked her on the cheek, his smile warm as he stepped back. “But, I don’t want to push you. We’ve only just started this thing, after all. You can be ready when you’re ready, I’ll stick around.”
He stretched and yawned where he stood, giving Ochako’s heart a second to recover. A moment to catch her breath.
Then she stood as well, facing him as he smiled.
He gave her another kiss. A tiny, chaste one on the lips, before he said, “I’ll be in the next room over if you need anything, alright?”
She nodded at him, squeezing his hand once before nodding. “Okay.”
“Goodnight,” he called, and then disappeared through the study’s door to her guest room.
Ochako took another door, back into her own room.
He was close, she reminded herself. Not here, in her room, but close. Definitely close.
There was no need to feel so worried.
Absolutely none.
That night, her nightmares were worse.
Much, much worse.
She dreamt she’d drank the magic. That it turned her into that thing in the dungeon. That she was a monster. Hideous, ugly. Mindless.
She attacked the castle. Fought for the villains. She dreamt that she tore it to pieces, stone from stone. Dreamt that her friends rose up to fight her, to kill her.
And, instead, she killed them.
She killed all of them.
Iida and Deku and Shouto. She killed Kirishima and Mina and Sir Hawks. She killed King Endeavor, and King All Might, too. She dreamt that she killed both of them, but her monster mind didn’t think it was enough.
She needed to kill one more king.
And—as is the way of dreams—he was suddenly there. Her handsome kind stood, facing her. His face somber as he looked upon the monster she’d become. As he stood, refusing to raise a hand against her, even as she roared at him. Threatened his life.
As her monster hands began digging into his skin, ripping Katsuki to pieces, she woke up.
Startled.
Alarmed.
Someone was shaking her.
“Ochako, it’s alright, it’s me, calm down.”
Ah.
She knew that voice.
He was alive.
He was here.
Even with just a sliver of moonlight in the room, she knew his face immediately. Was more than glad to see it was okay. That he was alright. That the little scar that marred his face was the only sign of harm on him—an old sign at that.
With the relief crowding her, and the terror fleeing, she couldn’t take it.
She began sobbing.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Katsuki’s eyes widened, concerned, and he began to move. Crawling into the space next to her, he scooted her over, making room for himself as he took her into his arms. As he held her. Rubbed circles into her back as he murmured to her that it was okay, that he was here, that everything would be fine.
“It was just a dream, Ochako. Just a dream,” he gently reminded her, his fingers sifting tenderly through her hair as she curled into his chest and cried.
With his presence there to soothe her, it took a lot less time to calm herself. For her sobs to break off, and her tears to dry.
In the end, he was holding her in the quiet of her room, steadying her. And she was hugging him tightly. Unwilling to let go.
“Do you… want to talk about it?” he asked quietly his voice rumbling through her ear. Comforting to her.
She shook her head. “No.”
He nodded, accepting her answer without hesitation. “Alright. I’m here.”
“Will you… will you stay?” she asked, voice small. Choked from the exertion of crying. A little terrified that he’d tell her no.
But, of course.
He didn’t say no.
Instead, he chuckled once—her head bobbing against his chest.
“Always,” he vowed.
And she knew he meant it.