Chapter Text
“Katsuki, this is a place of love and peace, stop your angry pacing or go home.”
Katsuki stops with a loud splash and turns to look at his fairy godmother, who stretches over a large rock in the middle of the shallow pool. She glows with the blue lights of the cave in absolute calm. She doesn’t care about this. Nobody does.
“I can’t go back home, that… giant lizard is there.”
“Didn’t peg you for being afraid of dragons.”
“I meant— I’m not afraid of him, I just don’t want to mate him.”
“Then don’t,” she says as if it’s as simple as that.
“It’s not like I can decide that. My parents already agreed and I haven’t even had the chance to talk to him once. The bastard went straight to them.”
Godmother Mina frowns and finally lowers herself from her ridiculous pose. Her pink and purple wings settle behind her. “I thought your parents were holding another ball and then you would get to choose?”
He scoffs. “That’s what she told me too, but I overheard them.” He kicks a stone with too much force and instead of falling into the pool, it hits the back wall. “They already made a deal. It’s not like they can say no to the oh-so-great Dragon King.” Katsuki rolls his eyes, and adds monotonously, “It’s a great honor and everyone in the kingdom would kill to be in my shoes.”
“That’s true, I’m not surprised he saw how special you are. Only the best for my Blessed.” She smiles.
Of course she doesn’t see the problem, her Blessed have mated into royalty since the beginning of time. “He’s doing it to get my wish.”
Godmother Mina stands up, her aura turning red as her wings quiver. “That is not for them to give. And not for him to take. That was my present to you on your birth, they have no right—”
“You think I don’t know that? But you did that thinking I would be an alpha and I’m not. That wish hasn’t belonged to me in a long time.”
A gifted wish without any strings from an ancient fairy like Godmother Mina is something powerful and extremely rare. There have been assholes trying to get their greedy little hands over it ever since he presented. One day, the very alphas that hated or looked down on Katsuki turned around and began slobbering all over him. Disgusting. He’d managed to keep them off, and his parents had him fooled, making him think he could choose. It turns out they were just waiting for the highest bidder. And then comes the fucking Dragon King himself, suddenly forgetting all about rank, class, and all that bullshit the moment it’s convenient. Fucking shitty traitors.
“When you meet, if you really find yourself disliking him, send him to me before the mating ceremony. I’ll deal with it.”
Katsuki smirks. It’s not unheard of for people to come looking for Godmother Mina for a wish, thinking she is benevolent and generous, but she has only ever been that to Katsuki. She isn’t evil but is known to send others back not only empty-handed most of the time, but with a silly little curse or two to make their life an annoyance. Like talking in riddles, having two left feet, and only tasting carrots no matter what you eat. They never last more than a few days, but it leaves people unwilling to return.
If this Dragon King proves to be a nuisance, he will for sure be taking her word. If he is worse than that… there might not be much even she can do to help. Once they are mated, Katsuki will be his property to mortal and immortal eyes.
“Thanks.” He smiles at her. “Gotta get back, there’s a dance tonight and I need to meet my future mate, if he deigns me worthy, that is.”
Katsuki’s scent started showing signs of his secondary gender when he was very little. So when he would say, "I'm never getting mated," it was always followed by condescending laughter and reassurances that he too, would find someone one day. He was to grow into a beautiful omega after all and would have to choose a mate to take care of him, otherwise, his poor little brain might explode, like his hands do.
His hands had always given him hope for something else. Something so destructive was a better fit for an alpha after all. Then came puberty and with it, the confirmation that his life was over. He was to be nothing in life but a doll for other people to play with.
It also marked an end to the laughs. They became, "such silly ambitions are unbecoming," when he would proclaim his goal of being the strongest Warrior King the world had ever seen. It eventually turned into "be decent and entertain our guest, you brat, and try not to embarrass yourself for once, we're trying to find you a mate here, if we're lucky, they'll only find out what they're getting into once they've taken you to bed," every time his mother threw yet another ball or invited someone for tea.
For some stupid reason, he thought deep down she felt some love for him. Since she would never force someone on him, and accepted his decision to reject his suitors. In the end, he had been pulling the wool over his own eyes.
She always invited the same people, it was a dance they all knew by now. She brought over a bunch of disgusting yet distinguished alphas, full of contrasting scents, and they gave him a headache as they postured and tried to one-up each other. He’d lose his patience and send them all home with insults and a couple of wounds. His mom would rage, they’d fight, and the next day when they’d meet for breakfast, she’d begin to prepare the next ball. It was a routine they had had for some years now.
She’s always complained about his ungrateful ass being too demanding since she picks only the best of the best. Fuck, it’s not like Katsuki is a catch, so he should be on his knees thanking her for the opportunity, according to her. Bullshit. They only come for the wish, he will not be grateful for being used.
It’s not like the suitors are that great either. Sure, they are powerful, rich, and sometimes even very handsome, but it’s their personalities and beliefs that break the deal. And that is saying something coming from Katsuki, who has a difficult personality of his own. They want someone that will sit, look pretty, and birth them kids, and if it happens to come with a wish, all the better. But he will never be that. They could even wish for it, and it wouldn’t happen. Katsuki will never become that.
Fuck. He punches a tree and keeps his hand on the bark. It scratches his sensitive knuckles and keeps him tethered.
What he would give to explode the fucking ballroom. If he got stepped on his toes one more time, he was going to rip a few heads off. That Dragon King better be a good dancer.
At least Katsuki still has his hikes. No one really knows about the cave or has found his secret trail yet. He's almost at the top of the hill, where he'll be able to take in the world below him, where it belongs. It feels so good to be at the top, to have the wind blow in his face and hair. Sometimes, he jumps off the highest point and flies .
But there is no time for that today. There might not be a time for it ever again.
Katsuki stops to close his eyes and enjoy the moment. Alone, only with the scents of the forest, the fresh air, and the sun on his skin, warming his bare back. He could stay all day.
It's not silent, but it's so much better than those noisy alphas blabbing all day and saying nothing at all. And the birds, insects, and trees don't ruin everything with the scent they spray everywhere like a cat in heat.
Ugh, just thinking about it makes him sick. It's almost like they are right by his side, with their cold noses pressed for too long on his wrist. Disgusting.
"Watch out!" Some stupid, random alpha yells after tackling him to the ground. His big, rough hand presses his face to the dirt before he gets fully on top of him.
Katsuki growls, ready to blast his face off, but it dies when a massive monster lands in front of them, crushing a tree. It's about twice their height, more than their widths combined, and with muscles in its muscles.
The alpha gets off him and helps to pull Katsuki up. He doesn’t thank him. Partly because he is speechless, partly because he shoved him down in the first place.
The monster roars, raising its enormous arms above its head. Before he can blast himself away, a hand is taking him by the arm and dragging him past the trees.
The grip is strong.
It doesn’t matter how fast they are going when the person leading the way doesn’t know the terrain. They skid to a stop in front of a cliff, with nothing beneath them but water and certain death.
They look at each other. The alpha's red eyes are wide with fear. The thing is making its way towards them fast, leaving a trail of destruction behind it. Tree trunks fly in all directions, threatening to kill them before the monster does.
Katsuki steps forward but is pushed back almost instantly. The alpha steps in front of him, tall and wide enough to completely cover him from sight. He could escape now, fly across the cliff into safety. Leave him to die and never speak of him.
But that’s what a coward would do and Bakugou fucking Katsuki doesn’t walk away from a fight, and he certainly doesn’t give up.
Still, he doesn’t know what this thing is and it would be stupid to fight it head-on without watching for a bit first. If the alpha looks like he is about to croak then he’ll interfere sooner.
The alpha is more competent than imagined, throwing punch after punch and driving the monster back. Probably helped by his magic skin, which looks hard, unyielding, and slightly terrifying.
The monster is fast too, and one hit to the head is all it needs to send the alpha flying away towards the edge of the cliff.
Katsuki launches himself into the air immediately, grabbing the alpha by the hand and throwing him back on land before he falls. With one blast, he is staring the monster in the face before exploding it.
It cries out in pain, but not much else happens. Katsuki lands on all fours in front of the alpha, who is on his feet and with his fingers in his mouth.
The monster runs towards them again. When the alpha whistles, Katsuki is already in the air, kicking it in the face. Katsuki lands close to him and the alpha grabs a hold of his ankle, stopping him from blasting the monster's brains out.
“The fuck are you—”
Crash .
For the second time that day, Katsuki is left speechless as he falls to the ground on his knees, next to the alpha.
Where the monster was a few seconds ago, now lays a gigantic black dragon. There is no way, whatever that thing was, that it survived this.
The dragon stays there, enjoying the sun on its scales and wiggling around as if nothing more than a pesky bug just got fully squashed. It throws its head back and makes a strange sound, almost like a cackle.
Besides him, the alpha laughs, and Katsuki turns to him.
He’s tall, even for an alpha, with well-defined muscles in plain sight due to his lack of a shirt. It’s indecent, but not notice-worthy. That is all in his face.
With his sharp teeth, bright red eyes, and a fucking black dragon, there is only one person this can be. The Dragon King.
His future fucking mate.
When Katsuki overheard the bastard making the deal, he hadn’t been able to take a good look at him. He should have let that monster pull him apart limb by limb.
The Dragon King winks at him and Katsuki frowns.
How dare he? Does he even know who he is?
Katsuki stands as tall as he can, and even puffs his chest out a little. It doesn’t do much for intimidation, since he barely reaches his shoulder, but whatever.
“The fuck was that thing?”
“Ah, nothing to worry your pretty head over, sweetheart.” He gives what he must think is a charming smile as he looks him over from head to toe.
Katsuki crosses his arms and steps a little away. “The Dragon King himself shows up out of nowhere, fighting a monster on my mountain. I think that’s something to worry about.”
“Oh, you must be Bakugou Katsuki.” He says, way too surprised for something he could have noticed faster if he had been looking at his face. It’s known he is basically a younger, male version of his mother. “I got an invitation from Alpha Bakugou, I look forward to dancing with you tonight and getting to know you better.”
Katsuki narrows his eyes. Sure you do, motherfucker. Go ahead and pretend you care about my choice, that you didn’t have any dealings with the hag and everything isn’t decided.
“What? Did I finally become good enough for the great Dragon King to come meet me?” Or you thought you could do with a neat little wish? “You’ve been leaving the invitations unanswered for years.” The hag used to stay waiting, but he never even deigned them with a rejection letter.
“Arranged matings are not really my thing.” At least he has the decency to look away ashamed.
“And yet, here we are.”
“I meant what I said, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” He steps way too close and puts a hand on the tree behind him.
Katsuki will have to admit that he is not as stinky as the others. But he is as arrogant and annoying as the rest, plus his hair is shitty, red, and pointing everywhere, so he steps away.
“Cut the crap asshole, I know you already arranged it with my mother,” he snaps, unable to keep up with the farce. Unlike everyone around him, he is not a liar. “Now I’ll ask again and you better answer honestly this time. What the fuck was that?” He points under the dragon, where the monster got squashed.
He sighs, and his posture relaxes. “It’s a Nomu, it’s sort of a rogue spirit, a tortured soul mixed with high levels of dark magic.” After hesitating for a moment, he continues. “I guess since we are to be mated you deserve to know. They’re partly why I came. A warp gate opened up in the far north a while back, early on in my father’s reign. We’ve been able to contain them, but they’ve gotten out of hand lately and are running rampant. Not only have they increased in number, but also in strength, and the situation won’t be sustainable much longer.”
“That’s what you need my wish for.”
King Shitty Hair flinches as if he wasn’t supposed to know he was only ever wanted for that reason. Katsuki resists the urge to roll his eyes.
“I have to admit, it’s a decent cause.”
“Only decent?” He smiles shyly.
“Shut up. It’s barely passing, but I’ll do it.” It’s a worthy enough cause, but that doesn’t change the fact that he hates it. He’ll still be tied to a man that will flirt with anything that walks in front of him, rotting alone, away from home, and part of the background like a chair until it’s time to breed.
Given all that, there should be no harm in having a little fun first. In the grand scheme of things, what is a little prank compared to what he will have to suffer for the rest of his life?
“Well, since it’s an emergency, I could help you out a little.” He leans on one foot, with his hands behind his back, and looks at him through his lashes. He’s seen the others do this a ton of times, even his father, it always works and drives them dumb, hopefully, this one is another stupid knothead that will fall for it. No one that's known Katsuki for more than a day would, so this is a unique chance. “Only my family knows the proper entrance to the fairy cave, if you stumble upon it you won’t be welcomed, but if you go and tell her I sent you, she will let you make use of my wish before the mating ceremony.”
Godmother Mina would rather burn the world than do that, but he doesn’t need to know that. Maybe having the head of a goat will fit him for a week. Or croaking like a toad every time he opens his mouth. Baldness would be a blessing. It would save them all from having to look at the atrocity on his head.
There is hesitation in the King’s eyes, and perhaps even some regret, as far as Katsuki can tell, but he accepts. It might be this moment that he too fully accepts that he is to be shackled to a stranger for an eternity. But it’s a sacrifice they must both make for the good of everyone.
Still, Katsuki has more to lose, so fuck the guy for the foreseeable future.
It’s not that he is a romantic, but he has a difficult personality, much like his mother. The least he can ask for is someone that wants him for him like his parents do. Their union was a blessed one by the fairy because of their great devotion to each other. With someone that doesn’t care for him… the union won’t be a happy one. They will make each other miserable, and neither one deserves that. And the one at fault is the King.
If there was a chance that the King felt something genuine for him, he would accept, but it’s clear that he doesn’t. No one does. Katsuki is a means to an end, and not even a particularly appealing one.
“I’ll tell you how to get to the cave, but you need to hurry before someone finds us half-naked and there’s a scandal.”
The King cracks what seems to be a genuine smile and nods again.