Chapter Text
Izuku was four the first time he met Kacchan. He had been playing in the forest just outside his village when he came across the small unconscious blonde, a large bump on his head. The boy was dressed strangely. While Izuku had on breechers and a loose small tunic, the boy had only two beaded necklaces and pants. He wasn’t even wearing shoes. Izuku muttered to himself for a while about whether it would be better to go and get help, and risk leaving him alone, or to just stay by his side until he woke up.
Izuku decided to stay by his side.
He sat down by the boy who occasionally groaned or twitched as signs of life, patiently waiting. An hour or two passed before the stirring became more deliberate, and his eyes started to blink open. Izuku jumped to his feet, a bright smile.
“You’re awake! Are you lost? I was really worried - oh!” Izuku’s words were cut off when their eyes met. The stranger’s eyes were a bright red, impossibly so, and his breath caught in his throat.
“Amazing,” Izuku breathed, mesmerized at the sight. They stared at each other in shock for another moment before Izuku reached his hand down towards the boy. “Here, let me help.”
“Hah?!” Ignoring the hand and leaping to his feet, tiny sparks began to crackle in his palms and Izuku fell backwards, their positions now switched. “What did you do to me?! Who are you?”
Izuku flinched back from the yelling, tears starting to form in his eyes. He couldn’t resist staring at the sparks, though. “How are you doing that?” he asked in awe. “And why are you dressed like that, and who - ?”
“Shut up already!” he snapped, the sparks getting more intense. “I’m the king and you have to answer all my questions, stupid!”
“King?” Izuku’s eyebrows scrunched together before his face lit up in understanding. “Oh! You’re playing Barbarians! I love that game! If you’re king, I wanna be a great warrior!”
“Tch, there’s nothing great about you.” As if to prove his point, the boy stopped his display of power and crossed his arms over his chest.
Izuku frowned, getting to his feet. “There is!” he insisted. “I’m going to be a hero when I’m big, and go on adventures, and protect people!”
“Oh yeah, what’s your power?” the stranger asked. When Izuku only gave him a look of confusion, he held out his hand and set off the sparks again. Izuku shook his head.
“I don’t have one,” he said. “No one in my village does.”
The boy squinted his eyes at Izuku suspiciously before they widened suddenly. “Hey,” he said, “You’re a human!”
“Yes? Aren’t you?”
“No way!”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m a dragonborn, idiot.”
“Wow!” Izuku’s face broke out in a wide grin, his eyes practically shining. “You really are amazing! What’s your name?”
Obviously pleased with the praise, the boy started, “It’s Ka - ” before he cut himself off, his proud expression shifting into a suspicious glare. “Wait, my mom told me not to trust humans.”
“Oh, well then, you don’t have to tell me!” Izuku said, still grinning and unphased. “I’ll just call you… Kacchan!”
“What? That’s a dumb name!” he sputtered. “What’s your name then, huh?” Izuku, anxious now that he had upset Kacchan so much, muttered his name under his breath, causing the dragonborn to scoff at him. “I can barely hear you. Sounds like you said ‘Deku’. It means useless in dragon-tongue so it suits you. Dumb human with no powers.”
“I don’t need powers to play, Kacchan,” Izuku muttered, blushing and looking at his feet. “If you still wanted to play king and warrior?”
Kacchan considered him for a moment. “Fine. But remember I’m the king so you have to do everything I say, got it?”
Izuku’s face broke out in that huge grin again, so easily placated from his earlier scolding. “Got it!”
This time Kacchan returned his grin. “All right then, Deku. Let’s go!”
Izuku, as it turned out, was terrible at following orders. For the rest of the Summer the two boys would find each other in the woods and play king and warrior, which consisted of Kacchan inventing some sort of quest they had to accomplish for the day. He tried to show off each time, proving his own greatness by climbing a tree, swimming across a river or catching a snake. Each time, he ordered Izuku to stand back and watch. But each time, Izuku would attempt to accomplish the same feat, usually to disastrous results.
Kacchan also regaled him with stories of All Might, a powerful dragonborn with a special gift who guarded Kacchan’s home from evil. Izuku hung onto his every word, looking at Kacchan as if he were the hero in the stories.
By the end of the season, Izuku had a collection of cuts and bruises that had his mom threatening to keep him locked up inside, but it never once deterred his desire to follow where Kacchan led. When the leaves began to change color for Autumn, Izuku learned that Kacchan’s people weren’t actually from this area. They were only passing through.
When Summer left, so did Kacchan, but each year the return of Summer also brought the return of Izuku’s strange friend. Their games grew and matured with them. Every few years Kacchan would appear with a new tattoo marking his skin, or a beaded necklace added to his collection. Izuku started bringing notebooks with him to their outings.
He was eight years old, leaning against the trunk of a tree, writing in his notebook when a familiar presence sat beside him.
“The fuck is all this?” Kacchan grunted, squinting at the scribbles on the page.
“Notes for when I start going on adventures,” Izuku said, handing the book over. “Wanna see?”
Kacchan rolled his eyes. “It’s too dangerous out there for a Deku like you,” he said, but took the notebook anyway. He glared at the pages as if they’d personally offended him. “I don’t get it,” he said blankly, turning the book this way and that as he tried to decipher the words.
Izuku stared at him for a moment before the realization hit him. “Kacchan… can you read?” he asked hesitantly.
Kacchan threw the notebook back at him, jumping to his feet with a vicious snarl. “I’m not stupid, Deku!” he snapped. “Don’t look down on me just because I don’t know your dumb human markings!”
“I’m not! You’re not!” Izuku waved his hands in front of him wildly, shrinking back into the tree. “We’re just different, I know that! There’s so much about your culture that I don’t understand, and your powers, I still don’t know how they work and everyone’s different, or how you’re actually related to dragons, or wait, is it just that you’re connected to dragons, either way I don’t think I’m better than - ”
“Holy shit Deku shut up,” Kacchan huffed, his annoyance overtaking his anger. He sat down across from Izuku, both cross-legged so their knees brushed, and reached over to snatch the notebook from his lap. Kacchan glared at the writing, brows knitted together, as if he could frighten them into revealing their meaning.
Izuku held his breath, afraid of setting off Kacchan’s temper again. Then he spoke, so quietly it was almost a whisper, “I could, uh, teach you? If you think you’d like that.”
“You’re not smarter than me,” he growled, but his anger seemed less than before, his eyes still fixed on the page in front of him.
Izuku smiled, taking that as an agreement.
“I know I’m not,” he said. “Kacchan is amazing.”
Sure enough, Kacchan was reading and writing human script by the end of that Summer. Each year after that, Izuku brought Kacchan a new book as a gift for the other boy to keep.
They were eleven, laying on the bank of the river, soaked through and breathing heavy. Kacchan had slipped on the log that lay across it, falling into the rough currents below. Seeing him fall, Izuku had panicked. As soon as Kacchan went down, Izuku jumped in after him to help. In the end, it had been Kacchan, the stronger swimmer of the two, who had to pull Izuku safely to shore.
“Stupid. Fucking. Deku.” Kacchan forced out each word between breaths, sprawled out on his back.
“I’m sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku said, pushing himself up to sit. “I saw you fall in, and I just - ”
“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!” Kacchan’s yell startled the birds out of the nearby trees and he launched himself up, fixing Izuku with a furious glare. “Get this through your thick human skull! You’re just a useless, dumb Deku. You’re not stronger, or smarter, or faster than me. I have a great destiny, everyone in my clan says so! You’re a human with no powers and you almost died you idiot!”
Tears started streaming down Izuku's face. He pulled his knees up to his chest and curled in on himself, sniffling. "S-sorry, K-kacchan," he stuttered.
"Go home, Deku."
"What?"
"I said go home!"
Kacchan stormed off, and for once, Izuku didn't follow him. Instead he made his way back to his home, where his mom hurried to dry him in front of the fire and held him while he cried. Despite all her attempts, she couldn't get him to tell her what had happened.
The next day, Izuku snuck out, hoping that Kacchan wasn't too mad to see him again. To his pleasant surprise, Kacchan was there waiting for him. They fell back into their usual routine and didn't talk about the river incident again.
They were thirteen, and Izuku sat on a tree stump, taking notes while Kacchan demonstrated his power to him. They saw each other less often now. Still every Summer, but Kacchan said that as he got older, he had more responsibilities, and couldn’t spend as many days running off into the woods. But he escaped as often as he could.
Kacchan must have been feeling particularly patient that day, or perhaps was just enjoying the rapt admiration Izuku gave him, because he answered Izuku’s questions and helped him understand the extent of his gift.
“And with enough force, in the right direction, I can propel myself through the air, see?” Kacchan said with a grin as he proceeded to do just that, landing gracefully in the clearing they’d settled in.
“Kacchan that’s so incredible!” Izuku scribbled down everything he could in his notes as the blonde came over and sat on the ground beside him. “Your power is really amazing. Is that why you have this ‘great destiny’ you keep talking about?”
“Sorta. There’s this other, bigger power. It’s been passed down by the guardian of our clan from generation to generation. All Might is cool as hell, but he’s old now. It’s time for him to pass it on. You gotta be strong as fuck to accept the power though, or it’ll burn you from the inside. That’s why only dragonborns can wield it. I’m the strongest and the best, so I’m going to get the power for sure! Everyone in my clan says so.”
Izuku was so entranced by the story he was, for once, speechless, and Kacchan merely sat back in the silence, basking in the glow of the boy’s awe.
“Oi, Deku, I got questions too,” he said finally, breaking the spell.
“Oh?” Izuku closed his notebook, giving Kacchan his full attention. Every once in a while the differences in their cultures would come up, but for the most part the dragonborn didn’t show any interest in his human ways. He always insisted it was beneath him.
“Do humans mate?”
“What?!” Izuku turned a bright red, nearly falling off the stump he was sitting on. “W-W-What do you mean by mate?!”
Kacchan rolled his eyes, a soft blush hitting his cheeks as well, clearly agitated with Izuku’s reaction. “Mate, asshole! Like, two people who commit to being together and standing by each other for the rest of their fuckin’ lives!”
Izuku’s heart rate slowed a little at that description. “Oh. Oh . Yes, um, we call it marriage, instead,” he said. “Two people, a husband and a wife, together forever.”
Kacchan frowned. “How do you know who’s the husband and who’s the wife?”
“Ah… the husband is the boy, and the wife is the girl.”
“Oh.” A silence stretched between them at that, and Kacchan seemed to be in deep thought, so for once Izuku kept his mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt.
“Is it always a boy and a girl? You can’t have two boys, or two girls?”
“You can!” Izuku said, brightening up. “We have couples like that in my village too! I guess I just said husband and wife because that’s what my parents were, but you’re right, it doesn’t have to be.”
“Do you want a husband or a wife?”
Izuku chewed his lip, realizing he’d never really thought too hard about the subject, before he broke into a soft smile, his body language relaxing. “It doesn't matter to me,” he said finally. “As long as I can stand by their side. What about you, Kacchan? What do you want in a mate?”
Kacchan took an equally long amount of time thinking of his answer, looking at Izuku a little too intensely, before he stood with a wicked smile. “I want a mate who never questions me! One who listens to everything I say, all the time, and stays back and lets me protect them.”
Izuku wasn't sure why, but Kacchan's words caused rage to flare up inside him. He stood up as well, drawing himself up to glare at Kacchan despite still being shorter than him. “Yeah well, I want a husband who’s kind and gentle and compliments me all the time!”
“Husband, huh?”
“Shut up!”
They were fifteen.
They sat together at the edge of a cliff, on top of a tall rock wall they had just climbed. The forest stretched behind them, and they couldn’t have taken the long path up, but Kacchan suggested the climb instead. It was a race to the top, and Kacchan won, but it hadn’t been by much. Izuku had gotten stronger in his teen years, a sudden growth spurt bringing him closer to Kacchan’s height, and the summers spent with Kacchan had strengthened his body and broadened his shoulders. He was still lean, but he wasn’t fragile.
Izuku fidgeted nervously, and Kacchan knew that meant there was something he wanted to say and was finding the courage to say it. But he also knew the other boy well enough to know that asking him would only make the process take longer, so instead he semi-patiently waited for Izuku to spit it out.
“I have a question,” he said finally.
Kacchan raised an eyebrow, noting that Izuku’s notebook was tucked away in his bag. “Yeah? What is it?”
“What’s your name?”
Kacchan froze. His eyes widened before his face contorted in a mask of fury. "You know I'm not gonna to answer that."
"But why not?"
"Fuckin’ drop it."
"Tell me why!"
Kacchan didn't answer him. Instead he stood, walking away. Izuku stared after him in shock for a moment before scrambling up to chase after him. “Kacchan, wait, I just thought - ”
“You didn’t think!” Kacchan spun around to face him, stalking towards him now, angrier than Izuku had ever seen him. “Stupid human, why’d you have to go and ruin a perfectly good thing, hah?!”
“But I don’t understand!” Izuku was back up against a tree now, Kacchan’s hands popping with sparks as he looked over him. “We spend so much time together, you’ve already taught me so much, what different is a name? How is that more risk than showing me your power, or sleeping next to me, or telling me about dragonborns - ”
“It’s just personal!”
“Everything we do is personal!”
“No, these summers, this bullshit, this is all a game, it doesn’t mean shit.”
“So that’s it? If we don’t share names, you can keep pretending that you don’t care? That we aren’t friends? That I’m just some seasonal dream and not a real, living person?”
“I should have stopped this years ago, this has gone too far.”
“My name is Izuku.”
The explosions in his palms stopped, and rage died away. Kacchan’s face fell, and without a word, he turned and walked away. Izuku stood for a moment in shock at the sudden shift, but quickly gathered himself and pushed off the tree to follow after him.
“Kacchan, please!”
“This is it, Deku. Go away. I ain’t coming back.”
“Don’t say that, you’re my friend!”
“Go the fuck home!” Kacchan turned to face him, holding his hand out and letting out a large explosion that sent Izuku flying back, slamming into a tree. He crumpled to the ground, the wind knocked out of him, but Kacchan was walking away again, Kacchan was leaving, he couldn’t let him go.
“We can talk about this!” Izuku got to his feet and stumbled after him, desperate to fix what he’d broken between them. They were down by the river now, Kacchan clearly intending to go back to his clan and leave Izuku behind.
“Why don’t you ever just fuckin’ do what I tell you to do?” Kacchan turned, and with a hard right hook, slammed his fist into Izuku’s head. Prepared this time, Izuku managed to hold himself upright, but his vision was swimming. “You’re like a shitty fucking dog, doesn’t know when it’s not wanted.”
“Why are you like this?!” Izuku yelled. He closed his eyes when his own voice had caused a pounding in his head, gritting his teeth, when a loud yell caused him to open his eyes. What he saw horrified him.
Kacchan was drowning. He was still on the shore, but he was drowning. It looked as if a piece of the river itself had come alive, detaching itself from the stream and coming on land and it was surrounding Kacchan and he was drowning . He attempted to set off his explosions, but the water surrounding him wiped the sweat off his skin and muted the impact. Red eyes met green, and one look at the desperation, the rage, the fear in Kacchan’s eyes sent Izuku running before he could think.
He sprinted towards the river monster, getting up to its side. Planting his red boots into the ground as hard as he could, trying to keep his face out, he thrust his hand in and grabbed a hold of Katsuki’s arm. And then he pulled . He could feel Kacchan’s struggling grow weaker, could feel the water pulling him in too, but he couldn’t let go, couldn’t leave, couldn’t just abandon him -
A fierce roar echoed across the area, a massive gust of wind, and the water beast was falling apart, slipping back into the river from where it came. Kacchan fell to the ground with a thud and Izuku looked up to a dragon, huge and light brown with teal eyes, growling at him. In his right mind, Izuku probably would have realized that this wasn’t an enemy, seeing as how Kacchan was a dragonborn. But Izuku’s adrenaline was still racing and so he stood over Kacchan’s body, holding his fists up like he could fight off a dragon with them.
“Leave Kacchan alone!” he yelled, holding his ground as the dragon snarled, showing its teeth, but otherwise not moving.
“There, there, Mamoru.” The deep male voice seemed to come from nowhere, and Izuku stiffened even as the dragon began to relax. That was when he noticed him. Sliding off the dragon’s back was a man, tall and thin, with hair yellow like corn and eyes a fierce blue.
Underneath Izuku, Kacchan began to cough, spitting up water and groaning as he shifted on the ground.
The stranger watched with curiosity as Izuku bent down to help Kacchan sit up, seeming to realize that if the dragon meant them harm, it would have done so already. Kacchan’s red eyes blinked open, and with a few more coughs and spits of water, he finally noticed Izuku’s arms around his, his face close and full of concern.
“Get. The fuck. Off me,” Kacchan growled, not sounding too different than the dragon had just moments before. He shoved Izuku off, standing up. Although he had let go, Izuku stayed by his side, hovering next to him with hands out and ready to steady him should he fall.
It was only when he’d drawn himself to his full height that Kacchan addressed the new comers. “The fuck you doing here, old man?” he said.
“Mamoru simply wanted to stretch his wings,” he responded with a polite nod and a glint in his eyes. “It’s a good thing he did. And a good thing this young man was here to help.”
“Deku didn’t do shit.”
“Deku? That’s a cruel name for someone who just put his life at risk to save yours.”
“That’s a dragon!” Izuku exclaimed, drawing their attention. He stared at Mamoru with eager eyes, his muttering coming in full force. “Right here, in front of me! So he must be a dragonborn too, and this is his bonded dragon. It seems like he understands common speech, although it could be that he only understands his partner, if the bond works that way, which would make sense since only dragonborns can form these bonds, but - ”
“Shut the fuck up!” Kacchan elbowed Izuku hard in the ribs, silencing him.
The stranger came forward though, ignoring Kacchan and moving past him to stop in front of Izuku, bright eyes searching. “Tell me, young man, why didn’t you use your powers against the river beast?” he asked.
“I don’t have any, Sir.”
His eyebrows shot up. “A human?” he said softly, eyes flicking to Kacchan, who pointedly looked away, before bringing them back to Izuku. “Then why did you run in like that?”
“I- I don’t know,” Izuku said, unable to look away from him. His presence was calming, but there was a strength there, buried beneath the frail appearance. “My feet moved before I could think. Kacchan, he… he just looked like he needed help.”
“I didn’t need your fucking help, shitty Deku!” Kacchan snapped.
“I see.” The man hummed to himself, seeming to consider something before Kacchan broke him away from his thoughts, storming towards the dragon.
“What does it matter? He’s just a stupid human. Let’s go,” he snarled, climbing on top of Mamoru who let him with a smull huff.
The stranger chuckled. “Very well,” he said, not taking his eyes from Izuku. “But before I go, what’s your name?”
“Midoriya, Sir,” Izuku said easily. He shifted his gaze to look at Kacchan, who had stiffened in his seat. “Izuku Midoriya, from the the Mustafu village just south of here.”
With a nod, the man rested a hand gently on top of Izuku’s head. “Well met, young Midoriya. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again,” he said, before turning and mounting Mamoru, the dragon taking both him and Kacchan into the sky and away.
Izuku returned to their usual clearing in the forest the next day, not sure what to expect. So much had happened in such a short window. He was fairly certain he had seen the last of his angry blonde friend, and so was surprised when Kacchan stalked out of the treeline, joining him in the expansive open space.
“Kacchan!” The relief was clear in Izuku’s voice as he smiled nervously. “I’m so glad you’re here, I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“Fight me.”
“What?” Izuku paused to take in the look on Kacchan’s face. It was serious, blank, almost curious as his stare pierced into Izuku.
“You’ve always thought so little of me,” he said, his voice low and rough, but calm. Somehow that calm was more terrifying than any of his yells. “Show me why.”
“Kacchan, I never - ” The explosions from Kacchan’s palms cut off Izuku’s words. He burst forward with a speed Izuku couldn’t escape from. Throwing his arms up defensively, he took the brunt of Kacchan’s weight slamming against him. Kacchan landed on his feet while Izuku was thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of him. He coughed, trying to stand.
“No matter what I said, you just kept following me. Trying to save me.” Kacchan gave Izuku just enough time to get his footing, and then he was rushing him again. This time, Kacchan stayed close, kept the battle to their firsts and legs, occasionally using his bursting palms to get around Izuku or throw him off balance. Izuku’s punches were sloppy, and his footwork was crap, but he took the beating the Kacchan dished out, refusing to go down easy.
He couldn’t hold out forever. Eventually, sooner than Izuku would have liked to admit, he found himself on his back in the dirt, dizzy and hurting. Kacchan loomed above him, hand on one wrist, and his boot on the other. His free hand created warning sparks by Izuku’s face as his boot ground Izuku’s arm into the grass.
“I’m better than you, Deku,” Kacchan snarled. “In every way. Victory is mine. Never forget that.”
He released Izuku then, who instantly curled up in a ball, coughing and wheezing as he tried to catch his breath and take stock of his injuries. By the time he’d risen up to his knees and looked around, Kacchan was gone.
Izuku didn’t see him again after that.
“I’m sorry, Katsuki. He’s gone.”
Mitsuki came to stand beside her son, gazing out from their tall view point at the open rolling fields that surrounded their city. At the end of the field, resting in the shade at the edge of the forests that start there, was a light brown dragon, roaring up into the sky.
The royal family had given Toshinori Yagi the room he deserved for his years of service to their kingdom. A massive bed with their best blankets and cushions, constant attention from the castle help, and any food and drink he could think of. But as he felt his time drawing nearer, he wanted his last breaths to be where he was the happiest. In nature, with the fresh air, curled up by his long-time companion.
“He was a senile old fool,” Katsuki grumbled, turning away from the sight and stalking back into the stone halls of their home. They called it a castle, but it was more of a fortress. A massive structure built directly into the side of the mountain itself. The outer wall had large caves and landing sights built in for the comings and goings of dragons. Although there was a road that led up to a lower entrance, flight was by far the easiest way in.
“Don’t speak that way of the dead, brat!” Mitsuki growled, storming after him. As a child, he looked exactly like his mother had at his age, all red eyes and blonde spikes and soft features. Now at 23, he had grown taller and broader than people had expected, considering the slim stature of both of his parents. The sharp lines of his face accentuated his perpetual scowl, making him an intimidating sight.
“Oh yeah? What else do you call him when All Might dies without leaving our clan a new guardian?” They entered a room adorned with a sturdy dark-wood desk, bookshelves lining the walls. Mitsuki took the seat behind it, gesturing for Katsuki to take one of the seats in front, but he stood stubbornly, arms crossed.
She heaved a sigh. Mitsuki knew that Katsuki worshipped All Might, but his pride poisoned his words. “He wouldn’t do that,” she said, softer than before. “Toshinori was our Symbol of Peace. He loved our people as much as we do. If he says a new guardian is coming, then a new guardian is coming.”
“It should have been me,” Katsuki hissed, slamming his hands down on the desk. His mother only raised an eyebrow, unphased by his temper.
"Well, it's not you," she said, folding her arms and leaning back. "The guardian will be here, and we're going to welcome him when he does."
It had been in this very room, when Katsuki was 20, that he, Mitsuki and Toshinori had gathered to discuss the subject. Toshinori’s condition had taken a turn for the worse, and even as they sat and talked, he had coughed up a worrying amount of blood.
“Toshinori, my old friend,” Mitsuki had begun with a rare tenderness. “You’re unwell. Not to be blunt, but a Queen’s got to be practical on behalf of her people.”
Toshinori gave her a weak smile. “You need not apologize, Queen Mitsuki. That resolve has served your people well. It was my honor to have served you. But yes, my time as your guardian is coming to an end.”
“You must pass on the gift,” Katsuki cut in bluntly, earning a glare from his mother that she ignored. “If you don’t, it dies with you. I’m ready. I’ve been ready.”
“Ah, my young prince.” Toshinori’s smile became sad, and his shoulders sagged. “I’m afraid I cannot give my power to you.”
Katsuki felt as if the ground had fallen out from under him, his face twisted in disbelief. “The fuck are you saying, old man?”
“Katsuki, that’s enough!” Mitsuki said before turning her steady gaze back to Toshinori. “I’m sure you have your reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that my brat is right. We need a new guardian.”
“And a new guardian you shall have,” Toshinori paused for another coughing fit before he continued. “The truth is, I chose my successor some time ago. I passed the power onto him, and have been training him in secret. I hope you’ll forgive my deception, Queen Mitsuki. I couldn’t risk our enemies discovering him before he was ready to face them.” He turned his eyes to Katsuki then, the guilt written plain across his aging features as he met the younger man’s vicious glare. “Oh, don’t look at me with such venom, my prince. I trained you myself, and you have become a strong and brilliant young man. You will be a great king, I have no doubt at all. But this gift requires heart, which your new guardian has plenty of.”
“Who is he, then?” Mistuki asked before Katsuki could burst. “Is he ready now?”
“Not yet, my queen. But he will be.”