Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The morning was any other for Anastasia, her dreaded alarm woke her with the sound of her favourite anime intro blaring through the phone speakers. She had meant to change the alarm, as it was now 7 am and her test wasn't until 11. Groaning she rubbed her eyes, hearing a soft pur come from beside her. She turned over to notice her all black cat, Luffy, stretching. A smile crept on her face, even though she had woken early, she had a feeling that it was going to be a good day. She idled in bed for another 30 minutes before the call of nature had her heading to the bathroom. Her 1 bedroom apartment wasn't horrible, and was the only thing she could afford being a student. It was on the right side of town, away from any violence or gangs, and even though it was tiny, the view made up for it. Once she finished showering and getting ready, which consisted of braiding her hair and putting on no makeup, she headed to her room to change.

She only had one class, that being the anatomy test, so she decided on sweats, and her favourite anime sweater. Which consisted of Luffy from One Piece, when anyone would ask her why he was her favourite out of everyone, she could never give an answer. It was hard to describe the way Luffy made her feel safe and valid, like if he was real, he would be her best friend and do anything to protect her. The thought made her blush, her friends kept saying that it was silly to think that way. She shouldn't be attached to a fictional character like that, and that was why Anastasia never told them about Zoro, the swordsman, that she simped for. They would all have a field day if they knew she actually loved a fictional character, so she decided it was better that they didn't know that side of her. Which had it sad moments, she could never vent to her friends about a sad anime or even an anime that made her keel over laughing. She tired once before and it didn't go well, so she never talked about it again. Her friends liked it that way. As if Luffy could sense her emotions, the black cat rubbed against his owners leg, purring and trying to comfort her.

"Oh Luffy, what's wrong?" Anastasia asked, mistaking her pet's concern for hunger. "Oh I forgot your breakfast."

With the interruption of her thoughts she giggled at the cat before attempting to pick him up, he complied and sunggled into her as she went to fill his bowl. She knew that she shouldn't spoil him but gave him his special wet food, there was a weird feeling that came over her, and she didn't know how to place it. However, as Luffy saw the wet food in his bowl he leaped out of her arms, almost causing her to drop the bowl completely. Collecting herself she looked down at the patiently waiting cat, tail wagging, tongue licking his lips as he waited for his food. She sighed, and had to laugh as her cat stuck his whole face into the bowl, not coming up for a breath of air. It was uncanny how alike her cat was to the fictional character. As her cat was finishing the food, making sure to lick everything off the bowl until the bowl tipped over, Anastasia made herself busy around the apartment, washing the dishes that she didn't get to the night before, and putting away her clean laundry that had been done the day before. After a while she checked the time, it was only 9 am, but she had nothing else to do at the house; and if she stayed home she would definitely get caught up and be late for her test. She packed her bag with the newest edition of haikyuu, her wallet, phone and her notes before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. She told her black cat that she would be home later and to be good before she left.

As Anastasia left her apartment in her world, Prince Bakugou tossed in his bed in his, A thin coating of sweat was starting to form on his skin as he fought the impending dream that was crashing upon him. However, he was not able to escape from the dream as it wrapped it's black talons on his mind, sweeping him into a night terror. Bakugou had no control over the dream or his body as he stood over a girl, no a woman, around his age he guessed. Just as he reached out to the mysterious woman a black moved in between them, pushing them apart which pissed him off. It made no sense for him to get mad at not being able to get to this girl, it was just a dream, a night terror. However, the more that his body was willed to reach out to the girl and failed, the more pissed off he got, why the hell was he getting mad? They were now at least 10 feet apart, and Bakugou was about to kill someone when the person on the other side of the black abyss stood up and turned to face him. It was that moment when Bakugou knew that something was wrong, first off he had never seen a woman like her before. She had snow white hair that reached down to her waist and bright blue eyes, ones that reminded him of the sea off Dargan Tine, his home land. However, that was all he could see, the rest of her face seemed to blur the closer he looked. Frustrated, he walked toward her, trying to see her other features, but stopped cold, and the colour drained from his face.

The girl before him, dressed in a white loose nightgown customary only to his kingdom, started crying. He was never good at handling someone crying especially a girl. However, that was not that main issue that grabbed his attention, no, his eyes went to the fresh red spot growing on her stomach. A feeling, one that he had never experienced before washed over him like rapids as he tired to scream out for her. Anguish and grief, why was he feeling those to a girl he just met. Why did it feel like his heart was being ripped out of his chest and he saw the beautiful woman fall to her knees, reaching her hand out to him. A scream was torn from his throat and tears from his eyes and he watched the girl close her eyes and mouth whisper something to him before closing her eyes.

At that exact moment, Prince Katuski Bakugou woke from his terrible night terror, cover in sweat and Anastasia was getting into her car. The moment she started her car, shivers racked her body, leaving her with an unsettled feeling. She brushed it off and started driving to her school, debating if she wanted to stop and get herself a coffee, but she wasn't allowed to finish her thought as she rounded the coroner and a loud sound of metal on metal rang in her ears, and iron taste coated her mouth as her world tumbled before her. It felt as though she would tumble forever, that was until she came to a hard stop. She couldn't tell what was happening, all she knew was that she was in pain sounded distant as it got harder to breathe. She tired to turn her head to see what had happened, but screamed when pain tore through her body at the slightish movement. It was at that moment that she knew she was in trouble. Focusing on the muffled sounds around her, she tired to pin point something that would tell her what had happened. However everything seemed to get lost, it was as though she was under water and the voices were screaming at her from just above the surface. The voices started to get farther away as the cold settled in, which was odd, she shouldn't be cold. She was wearing sweats and it wasn't even cold out that day. Nothing was making any sense.

Suddenly a voice, a clear voice, caught Anastasia's attention. It was coming from behind her, or was it in front? It seemed to be coming from everywhere at the same time and she had to hold back bile as her mind tumbled to keep up. Then the voice was there, beside her ear, whispering words, that at first didn't make any sense, but the more they were repeated the more they sank into her, and she feared them. It was a soft woman's voice, one she had never heard before, she felt so comforted by the tone, even if the words sent shivers down her spine. It was though the woman was inside the car with her, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"Let your soul find its mate, you've been apart for to long." Those words, even though they really had no meaning for Anastasia, brought her a sense of calming along with tremendous fear.

"I... I d-don't wa-w-want ..." Anastasia found herself not able to finish as her breathe drew slower, and harder each time.

"It is okay child, this is not the end. You lived in this world for longer than you should have. It is time for you to find true happiness in the one you were meant for." She whispered against Anastasia's ear once more before her breathing ceased and everything went white... and all pain left completely.

At the exact moment Anastasia took her last breath in her world, Prince Bakugou, still recovering from his night terror, felt an overwhelming sense of need wash over him. He brushed it off as no more than a side effect from the night terror, but it didn't fade. He got up from his bed and made his way to the only mirror in his room, to notice the birth mark on his left chest and shoulder start to glow red and heat flowed off in waves. In all his years he had never experienced something like that before, and with a sudden memory everything made sense. The overwhelming sense of need, the glowing birth mark, he let out a chuckle as his lips turned up into a cocky smile. His mate was coming, and now there would be nothing to stop him from completing his destiny and expel the evil that roam the earth, once and for all.

Chapter Text

In a large clearing deep within the forest outside Dragan Tine stood Anastasia, covered in a heavy fog that made it hard to move. The word confused would be an understatement to how she felt in that moment, the last thing she could recall was… was her car flipping and… oh god, the pain. Anastasia, who had been under the impression that she had died in the crash, but then why was she standing in the middle of an unknown forest that was quickly being smothered in fog. Trying to gather her baring’s she looked as far as her eyes could see, which wasn’t very far if she was honest. The fog was getting thicker by the minute, almost seeming to stick to her skin like it was tape.

Suddenly, through the thick fog there was a bright light, that seemed to encompass a multitude of colours. Anastasia gulped, her skin shivering as goose bumps of anticipation and fear crept up her body. All that vanished though, when a mature black haired woman came through the light, stepping into the forest and greeting Anastasia with a bright smile. The woman had a radiance around her, almost like a heavenly aura seeped out of her skin. Frozen where she stood Anastasia could only stare at the woman as she walked, no glided, towards her. Nothing was making sense, she should feel fear, she was in an unknown location after she… died? Why wasn’t she afraid? Who was this woman and where was she?

“Is this… did I die?” Anastasia asked, confused.

The woman smiled and held out her hand before speaking, “No child, this is Dragan Tine; the home of the dragons and home to your soul.”

“Huh?” Confusion spread across her face, baffled by her words.

“I know this is probably confusing to you, but will you listen to what I have to say?” The woman asked, her extended hand still empty.

Anastasia was deep in thought, trying to understand what had happened, where she was and who the woman in front of her was. However, she snapped back into the conversation when the woman placed a hand on her shoulder. She pulled back, an instinct that she was thankful for, not wanting to get to close to the unknown woman. Slowly, she swallowed her fear and moved her gaze towards the woman, her hand was still extended. Sighing, knowing that the woman was not going to relent until she placed her own in the out reached hand. So she did just that, and was gently guided outside the clearing and towards a cliff, and that was when she froze. Sweat dripped down her back as she tired to remove her hand, finding it impossible, the woman had an iron grip.

“You do not need to fear anything my child, I am not going to hurt you. I just wanted to show you your home.”

“M-my home? This isn’t my home!” Anastasia screamed as she pulled harder against, effectively removing herself from the woman’s grip. “I died, I had too. There was no way I would have survived that accident, the pain… the pain was horrible.”

“You still remember? I thought I had wiped that clear… hum… I guess I’m rusty. Would you like me to erase that memory?” She asked as she reached her hand out once more.

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed, putting distance between them.

“Alright, I see you are still unsure of my intentions, but that’s okay, it does take time for people to trust. Doesn’t it?”

“Where am I? Am I dead?” Anastasia asked, not giving the woman’s words a second thought.

“Why don’t we start with some introductions? Hmm, my name is Nana, and you of course, you’re Anastasia.” She smiled as she spoke, a genuine smile that reached her eyes.

“How do you know my name! Stop avoiding my questions, you have to answer me.”

“Oh, I do?” Nana laughed, “why would you think that?”

“Well…” She hadn’t really thought about that, what if this woman, Nana, had nothing to do with why she was here, and just found her.

“Can’t think of anything?” Nana teased, her voice light and aloof. “It’s alright, you’re right, I do owe you an explanation. After all, I was the one to bring you here, after you died.”

Those words, after you died, Anastasia had been expecting them, but they still shook her to her core, and she fell onto her knees, frozen. The shock was all too much, all consuming as she let those words sink in. She had died, she as dead, but then, why… where was she now? Nana sighed as she looked down at the frail young woman, this was going to be more difficult than she had originally thought. How on earth was this woman, this soul, the mate of the young dragon prince. If she acted this way with him, he would eat her alive, Nana thought with a sigh. Knowing that the girl was not going to break out of her shock without help, Nana knelt down and grabbed her face, pulling Anastasia into her gaze.

“You did die, your body died, but a soul never dies.” Nana explained, “You were never meant to live in that world, you were meant to live here, with your mate.”

“T-then… I-I don’t understand, how could I possibly be dead, but alive?” Anastasia whispered, her voice shaking as her body trembled.

“A soul never dies, no matter what happens, it will continue to search for it mate until they can rest in peace. Your last life, the one I pulled you from, that was supposed to be the life where you found your mate.”

“Then what happened?” Anastasia asked, intrigued.

“Evil, that’s what happened. Not everything in this world, or any world is without evil, and when your impending birth spread throughout the powers that be…” Nana trailed off, “well, let’s just say evil had their moment and sent you to another world.”

“So, I was never meant to live that life? Is that what you’re saying? Also, how do I know if any of this is true! You could be lying to me; you could be… I don’t know what you could be, but if I’m dead, it’s probably not good!” Anastasia pushed Nana’s hands off her, before she hugged her knees to her chest.

It was then she realized what she was wearing, it was a simple dress, pale yellow which against her pale skin, seemed to cast her as a doll. On closer inspection, the dress passed her knees, resting against her shins, flowing from the ribbed waist line. The bust was a loose concept, with only one string keep the top from spilling open. She was thankful that it at least had sleeves that reached her wrists, she didn’t know the culture, wherever she was, and didn’t want to be burned alive on the first day. Suddenly she felt something being placed against her shoulders, she didn’t have to look up to know it was Nana, the woman had placed a large brown cloak on her shoulders, before taking a seat next to Anastasia.

“I could never imagine what you must be going through, the emotions, the thoughts… your fears… but, let me make one thing clear.” She said, her voice was warm, but firm. “You are meant for great things in this world, and though it will be scary, and you may not trust the right people; your mate, will always be there, even if you don’t want him to be.” She smiled and teased Anastasia.

“Alright, let’s say I believe you, that I died or whatever, and I was taken here, by you. What happened to my family? My cat, Luffy, what happened to them?”

“Since your soul was not supposed to be there in the first place, once you left the fates were able to set everything right again. They don’t remember you, you never existed in that world, as it should’ve been from the beginning.”

“I guess that should comfort me, knowing that my death won’t cause my family any pain, but for some reason, it makes things so much worse.” Anastasia whispered as tears blurred her vision.

“There is nothing I can say that will comfort you, I know this.” Nana told the young woman, placing an arm around her to aid in some comfort. “The life you were meant to have, the life you always wanted, starts now.”
“What does that even mean?” Anastasia laughed, she felt done, with everything.

“Well, why don’t you go find out? The kingdom there,” she pointed towards the large stone castle. “Your mate is down there, Katsuki Bakugou, prince of the dragons.”

“I’m sorry, what!” Anastasia blurted and jumped off the ground, onto her feet. “Prince of the what!”

“I told you what the kingdom was named didn’t I, thought you would have put it together by now. Hmm, it’s no matter. He knows you are here, and will be expecting you.”

“Hold up! I never agreed to that, I never once said that I would have anything to do with my so called mate, especially now that he’s prince! Prince of the DRAGONS!” She emphasized dragons, as her mind still was not able to wrap around the thought of them being real.

“You really didn’t have a choice, the moment your soul came into existence, you were fated to him.”

“That is not fair, and I think I’m taking all of this a lot better than I should be.”

“You’re taking it better because your soul knows that it is home, no matter how hard you try to fight it, deep down you know you are home.” Nana smiled from where she sat, looking up at the young woman, who now didn’t look as frail as before.

“There are some things I wish to warn you about before you leave for the kingdom. Would you please sit.”

“I should say no, I should say no and leave… but I have no where else to go. If this is real, I should probably know these rules, and if this is a coma dream, it doesn’t look like I’m going to wake up any time soon. So what the hell, lets here them.” Anastasia said and sat down beside Nana, crossing her legs in order to get comfortable.

“Either way, whether you believe this to be real or a coma dream as you said, you need to listen to what I have to say, it could save your life.” That peaked Anastasia’s interest and she straightened her back.

“Your existence is mostly unknown, to others you would be just another traveler, but to a small group of people they will recognize you the second they see you. The white hair and blue eyes tend to stand out in this part of the world.”

“Wait – what! I don’t have white hair, and my eyes are green!”

“Not here, here you are the true embodiment of yourself, which is helpful but can also be extremely dangerous. The cloak I gave you has a hood, use it at all times unless you are with your mate or one of his dragons.”

“Why is this cloak magic or something?” She seriously asked, if dragons were real, there had to be magic too.

“No,” Nana giggled, beaming in the innocence before her, “it will cover your hair and face, like a normal hood does.”

“Oh, okay… would’ve been cool if it was magic.” She mumbled under her breath and pulled the hood over her head.

“Now,” Nana started again as she pulled a large leather bag from behind her and placed it in Anastasia’s lap. “I have stocked this with what you should need, there is money, food, herbal remedies, extra clothes and more. It is no more than what you need, so don’t waste it.”

“Um, thank you.” She whispered and gripped the bag tight, nerves starting to crawl into her mind.

“You’re scared,” Nana stated as she stood. “It’s alright to be scared.”

“There is one last thing I will tell you before I take my leave, and you must listen to this very carefully.” She waited to see Anastasia look at her, she needed to make sure she understood what she was about to say. “There is only one person you can truly trust in this world beside me, and I will not be with you at all times, it is your journey after all. Your mate, prince Bakugou, is the only person who you can truly be safe with.”

“How will I know who he is, you haven’t told me what he looks like.” She asked as her fingers turned white against the leather bag.

“You’ll know, the mark on your shoulder will burn when he is near.”

“Mark? What are you talking about? I don’t have a birth mark on my shoulder.”

“You don’t?” Nana was genuinely surprised by the revelation.

“I-I mean, I do have a birth mark, it’s – it’s on my hip, and my Mother always said that it looked like a hand print… stained in blood. Yeah, kids used to tease me all the time, it got around after I took my first swimming lesson. They used to say, if I wasn’t good the person who left that mark on me would come back and finish the job. I guess they were trying to reference the fact that it looked bloody.”

“Well then, that mark on your hip,” Nana pointed and smirked. “it’s his hand print. I’ve been told he is very possessive over his things, like a greedy child. His soul must have marked yours in the only way he knows how. It’s kind of romantic if you think about it.”

“It’s not romantic at all! Are you saying that bastard literally marked me with his own hand, before I was even born! How does that even work! Never mind that, you said he was possessive over his things, I am not a thing, nor his thing.”

“It seems you do have some fire in you, this will be fun.” She giggled as the bright light from before opened up inside the clearing once more. “Now, don’t forget what I told you, and stay alive.”

“That’s encouraging.” Anastasia whispered to herself as Nana walked into the light, disappearing.

Anastasia stood in silence for a long time before she gathered her courage and started to walk. She knew that the kingdom was down the mountain, and found a trail soon after she started off, only hoping that she was going in the right direction. The trail was taking her down, so even if it was the wrong trail, she would still be off the mountain, and that would be a better start than nothing. She slung the leather bag over her back and gripped and straps tight, fear was still etching itself deeper into the roots of her mind, but she couldn’t allow it to take over, not yet anyway. From what Nana had told her, she wouldn’t be safe until she met up with her mate, even though she really loathed the idea. He didn’t sound like the best guy in the world. From how Nana described him, prince Bakugou was a little bitch and didn’t like it when others stole from him; and that was totally not her type.

Time seemed to move faster than she would have thought, or maybe she was just slow. Either way by the time she made it down the and to the kingdom it was almost dark. She quietly moved throughout the cobblestone streets, trying to stay hidden, but not being able to shake the feeling of eyes on her. She had to push that aside, even though it was eating it her away, she knew that she was always anxious person, it could have just been her fear running wild. She did her best to stay focused on her current task, which was finding a place to stay for the night. Moving her tired feet seemed to a more difficult task than she thought it was going to be and she didn’t know how much longer she could keep walking, those boots that Nana had given her, well she could only think that it was Nana, had started to cause her feet to ache half way down the mountain. However, she didn’t have to complain for much longer, soon she came across a humble looking inn and she prayed that they still had a room available before opening the door and stepping inside.

Chapter Text

The door swung open at the Froppy Inn and the soft ring of a bell alarmed the front desk that a customer had entered. Tsuyu had taken over her parents Inn not that long ago, and was still having a difficult time getting a handle on how things worked. As the young traveler walked through her Inn door she wondered who would be out this late, but paid it no mind as long as they were able to pay for a room. Tsuyu noticed the figure hesitate at the door before walking to the front desk and placing, very feminine hands onto the counter. So this young traveler was a woman, Tsuyu thought, very odd to have a young girl like herself out so late at night without an escort. Anastasia shifted so that she could grab the leather bag, it was difficult to take it off while trying to keep her long hair under the hood. However, her efforts were deemed useless when her hood fell back, causing her to freeze and clutch the bag hard in her hands.

“Hello, are you looking for a room? Ribbit.” Tsuyu asked, trying not to stare at the white haired beauty before her.

“Oh… yes, do you have any rooms left?” Anastasia asked as she pulled her hood back over her head.

“We do, ribbit, what are you looking for?”

“Um, just a single bed, and access to a bath, I got new boots and my feet are killing me. I will probably need to soak them.” Anastasia sighed, thoughts of a hot water sliding over her tired body ran free in her mind.

“Well all bath is closed for the night,” Tsuyu stated, “but, we do have a room left that has a bath attached. Its more on the expensive side, would you have enough?”

“I-I think so; it’s been a while since I last counted what I had.” Anastasia put on a weak smile as she searched for whatever currency was accepted in this Kingdom.

“Uh, Miss…” Anastasia looked up to see the woman behind the desk pointing to the bag on the counter, the one Anastasia had placed there while she searched for the money. “It seems that you have more than enough for the room tonight.”

“Oh, yes… sorry, it’s been a long day.” That wasn’t a lie, Anastasia did not know how much longer she had before she passed out from exhaustion. “How much is it?”

Anastasia placed what she believed was the right amount on the desk and sighed in relief when the woman didn’t question her. Tsuyu took the money and handed a large, brass key to Anastasia. She thanked the Inn keeper and walked to her left and walked up the stairs, heading to room 208. Anastasia had walked to the end of the long hallway before she came across the room that read 208, and almost cried in relief when her gaze fell onto a bed, but she had to be strong. Her feet needed to be cleaned, and she wouldn’t mind a bath herself. She closed the door behind her, and flicked on the lights, allowing her to get a clear look inside the room. It was safe to say that the room was not what she expected, however, she didn’t really know what to expect.

The room had stone walls and candle stick lights attached to the stone, creating a soft light. She moved towards the bed that was placed in the middle of the room, against the back wall and placed her bag down. She was tempted to sit on the bed, but knew if she did, she would never get her bath. So, instead Anastasia sighed and took off her cloak, hanging it on the back of the door. Beside the bed, a bed side table and a wooden chair there wasn’t much to the room, but that didn’t bother Anastasia. She knew that she wasn’t going to be staying there for long, if what Nana said was true, she was going to find her mate sooner, rather than later. Or well, he was going to find her. After she doubled checked that the door to her room was locked she made her way to the bathroom, which was a room of its own behind the bed.

When she turned the light on inside she was taken aback, she didn’t expect the bathroom to be like that, not at all. She had expected a bucket and tub if she was going to be honest, it only made sense, this was another time all together. However, what she saw was the complete opposite, the bathroom was lined with tile and a drain in the center of the floor. There were no windows, thankfully, so the room was lit only by the small lights adorned on the walls. She gazed over to the bathtub, or bathtub looking thing. It was a large wooden barrel with metal brackets keeping it together, above that was a brass shower head with a handle attached. On the other side of the room was a small mirror over a sink, and a toilet to the left. She didn’t expect to be so happy to see in door plumbing, but she had a real fear that she was going to have to toss a bucket out a window.

Closing the door behind her she started to undress, leaving her clothes on the closed toilet seat. She looked around the small room for a towel, and after some digging she found one folded behind the bathtub. When she turned the water on Anastasia almost singed with joy, it was hot water, hot enough to leave a persons skin red and steam up a room. When the tub filled to the brim Anastasia turned off the water and allowed herself to sink into the scolding water. For the first time that day, or since she was brought to Dragan Tine she felt relaxed. As she washed her tired feet she was thankful that they weren’t bleeding, she only had a couple small blisters. She knew from past experiences that they were going to hurt like hell the next day, but couldn’t do much about that without supplies. She stayed in the water until it was cold, goose bumps gathering on her skin, and even then she didn’t want to leave. The water was almost comforting to her, it was calming and she didn’t want to leave and be tossed back into, whatever was out there waiting for her.

“Fuck, I’m going to loose my toes if I stay in here any longer.” Anastasia mumbled to herself before pulling herself out of the freezing water.

She wrapped herself in the towel before turning back to the tub still filled with dirty freezing water. Confused to what she was supposed to do with it, it didn’t make any sense to leave it there, but there was no plug to pull to let all the water out. She wracked her brain for a few more minutes before she gave in to the cold. She hadn’t noticed it before when she was in the bath, but the room was freezing, and she could only attribute that to the stone walls. Her body had started to shiver again as she searched through the bag for some kind of sleepwear, and was relieved to find a white nightgown. It wasn’t that she would have picked out for herself, but since the situation wasn’t usual in itself, she would take what she could get. With the nightgown not having any sleeves it did a hard time warming her up, but it was better than nothing at that point.

Anastasia hung up her dress with her cloak, hoping that it wouldn’t be wrinkled when she woke the next day. Before she went to bed Anastasia made her way back into the bathroom and stood before the tub filled with freezing dirty water. She pondered over the tub, pressing her fingers to her lips as ideas flew through her mind. Was she supposed to leave it there and they clean it up? No, that didn’t sound right. Did she just dump it? There was a drain in the floor, is that what is was meant for? That would make sense, she thought and decided to do just that. If by chase that wasn’t what she meant to do, she could blame the mess on her bumping into it and knocking it over. Lifting the tub was harder than she expected, but as she stood behind the barrel, with her nightgown tucked into her underwear she pushed, sending the tub and its contents all over the tile floor. She held her breath as she waited for the water to go down the drain, and once it did just let it out an exhausted sigh.

Her feet had gotten wet, but beside that it seemed that she had managed to do that without getting drenched. Carefully she made her way back to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed she dried her wet feet with the damp towel. It wasn’t doing much, but it was better than going to sleep with water dripping off her toes. She dried them off as best she could before untucking her nightgown and slipping into the bed, the covers were warm against her chilled skin. They weren’t the most comfortable sheets she had slept in, but in that moment they could be straw and she would still be grateful. It didn’t take long for her to start t doze off, the quiet buzzing of the outside lulling Anastasia into a deep slumber.

The same moment Anastasia rested her head on the Inns pillow, Prince Bakugou was sparing with his dragon companion. The red haired man had kept his human form, it was only fair, no human would be able to fight a dragon. Kirishima knew that his friend was going through a hard time, it showed clearly in his ability to focus while they fought. However, he knew better than to bring it up, especially when they were going at each others throats. Instead, he allowed his friend to take his anger out on him, he was more than capable to defend himself. Bakugou knew what his friend was doing, and was grateful even though he would never say it. He had sent out that notice to all the shops and Inn’s the day before, and had heard nothing. At first he was angry, pissed that his mate was ignoring him, but as time went on he became more anxious. Now, having it be one full day of his mate being in this world, he was scared, what if she never made it to Dragan Tine, what if they had found her first. It was a possibility, they weren’t connected yet, so there would be no way to tell if she was in danger or not. Anger boiled over him at the thought of her being locked away with the bastards calling them selves the League, and he sent a loaded fist straight into his friends face. A crunch could be heard from Kirishimas’ nose, and he reeled back, holding the broken bones as bled slipped through his fingers.

“What the fuck man! Watch how hard you’re throwing those punches!” Kirishima shouted, as he tired to hold back his anger.

“Sorry…” That was all Prince Bakugou said, well mumbled, as he moved from the battle area.

From the response of his friend Kirishima knew that he was not in a good place, he never apologized, ever. Usually Bakugou would laugh as his friend groaned in pain, saying something along the lines of “It wasn’t even that hard” or “Come on, take it like a man!” The last one would always manage to get under Kirishima’s skin and anger him more. However, this time around was different and Kirishima knew it. The only thing he didn’t know was how to snap his friend out of whatever funk he was stuck in. The bloodied dragon sighed and snapped his nose back into place, like he had done many times before, and found a towel to catch the blood. He gave himself a moment before walking to sit down beside his friend, not caring if he was invading the mans personal space.

“Don’t worry man, she is going to show up.” Kirishima said, his voice muffled by the towel.

“No one had contacted the castle, its been a day and I was very clear with the description. Snow white hair that fell down to her waist, and blue eyes that one could compare to the ocean, and win. Those features are not common! So where the FUCK is she!” The Prince shouted, jumping from the bench and sending his fist into the stone wall.

Kirishima watched as the stone cracked under the force of the Princes fist, unsettled by the fact that he was just hit with the same fist that cracked the castles stone walls. He couldn’t understand what his friend was going through, and didn’t want to pretend he did, but he knew he had to do something, and soon. Or his friend, the Prince, was going to loose it. Before he even had the chance to picture the mayhem that incurred the last time the Prince lost it, a voice sounded from the hall, calling out for the Prince. Both men turned their head to see another dragon, and friend, Denki bounding down the hall. Denki’s hair stuck by sweat that had formed as he ran throughout the castle, in his effort to bring news to his Prince. Denki knew that this letter was going to cause him to break out of his funk, but he didn’t know if it was going to stick or not; because the letter that Denki held in his sweating hand was one written by an Inn owner earlier that evening and if what she wrote was true. It was going to change everything.

“What do you want, I’m not in the mood for your jokes.” Prince Bakugou bit out, holding his throbbing hand.

“A letter… an Inn owner…” Denki stammered out as he tired to catch his breath, no matter how many times he climbed those stairs, he was always out of breath by the top.

“If you don’t spit it out in the next 10 seconds I’m gonna drag you into the battle area and beat the shit out of you!” Bakugou spat out and sent a deadly glare over to Denki.

“Froppy Inn, the Inn keeper believes that she checked the woman you’re looking for, she said that she fit her description and was acting out of place, like she didn’t really know where she was. It could be her, right!” Denki shouted with the last of his breath before he fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Kirishima stared at his exhausted friend as he tired to process what had just been said, and when it clicked he turned his gaze to his Prince, and saw him frozen in place. Bakugou should have been out the door the second his shitty friend said that someone had seen her, but he found that his feet were glued to one spot. The only thing that would explain it was that he was in shock, he knew that his mate was out there and desperately wanted to find her, but now that she was so close. Bakuguou couldn’t move. Kirishima sensed that something was a miss with his friend and decided to take charge of the situation, walking over to Denki and grabbing the letter from his hands to read himself. His eyes trailed over the letter and had to re-read it three more times before it would register in his head that those words were true. When it finally sunk in Kirishima turned to his friend, who was still in shock.

“Bakugou, if this is real – if it’s really her, she needs to be protected.”

“I’m going to get her, now!” Bakugou mumbled and started for the door.

“Bro, you can’t just do that!” Kirishima stopped Bakugou, pushing against his chest.

“Why not! She is my mate! Why can’t I go get her!” The Prince shouted as he placed a hard grip on his friend’s arm.

“Think about it, bro. It’s the middle of the night, if we go now she’ll be scared out of her mind, even more than she probably is. You told me how she probably came here, to our world, do you really want that to be your first impression.” Kirishima whispered as he tired to reason with his friend.

“If I don’t go now, how will I protect her?”

“I’ll go,” Kirishima said and released his friend, “I’ll go to the Inn and keep watch, they know me and probably wouldn’t care if I stayed there. Then when it’s morning, I’ll bring her to the castle.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Bakugou, they probably would feel less stressed out if it was Kiri and not the Prince himself waiting.” Denki said, he had finally caught his breath.

“Shut up!” Bakugou shouted at his friends, he desperately wanted to fight back. To tell them that it would be best if he went and got her now, but he knew that Kirishima was right. He would never tell him, but when he stopped fighting and sat back down on the bench.

“If you allow anything to happen to her, I will make you wish you were never born, do you understand?”

“You don’t have to worry; I am going to protect her with my life. It is my duty as your dragon to protect your mate.” Kirishima knew that this was no time for teasing as he made that promise with his best friend.

With a hard nod Bakugou sent his friend and dragon off to protect his mate. Kirishima only nodded back before he grabbed his silver vest and glove, putting them back on and sheathing his two large daggers on his belt. He hoped that he wouldn’t need to use them, but he knew that it would be to dangerous to turn into his dragon form in town, so he brought them just in case. He didn’t look back as he left the castle, only stopping once to grab his his red scarf before heading out into the cold dark night.

Bakugou wanted nothing more than to be in Kirishimas place, but sadly he knew that it wasn’t possible, and could only hope that his friend protected what he couldn’t. Frustrated beyond belief he left Denki on the ground and stormed off to his room, he needed to be alone before he did something he would regret. He paid no attention to anyone who was trying to get his attention, pushing them out of his way. When he finally made it to his room and slammed the door, sending vibrations to go throughout the hallways. The scream that he had been holding in finally escaped and an overwhelming feeling of uselessness consumed his body. He gripped his hair in his hands pulling until it hurt. He hated this feeling, if he couldn’t protect one person, the person who was made for him, why was he so useless. As the familiar feelings of a panic attack crept over him Bakugou gripped the mark on his neck in an effort to find some comfort. As pain swept through the area where his mark was, it started to glow and slowly his breath started to calm. The panic attack had stopped before it started, his old trick of holding on to the mark had always worked before, and he was glad that it still worked.

Bakugou was calm enough to get changed and slip into bed, squeezing his mark once more before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to take it. He hoped to dream of his loving mate once more before he got to meet her in person, but what he didn’t know was that his mate was in distress. What he didn’t know was that by abusing his mark sent shock waves of pain to Anastasias mark.

Chapter Text

The morning came to fast for Anastasia as the sun trickled in through the curtain of the only window in her room. All she wanted was to pull the covers over her and go back to sleep, however the groaning coming from her stomach proved to be to much. Anastasia groaned and rubbed her eyes as she peeled herself out of the warm bed, she was never fond of the cold and having stayed overnight in a stone walled room did not put her in a cheerful mood. Another grumble tore itself from her stomach, louder than before, and she knew that it was probably a good idea to grab something to eat. Nana had said that she packed some food in the bag, and while there was dried meat and fruit, there didn’t look to be an actual meal. With the new revelation that she was going to have to leave her room to have breakfast Anastasia slipped out of her nightgown and back into the dress and cloak from the previous day. Even though she had taken a bath the night before, she noticed that Nana had forgotten to pack her extra underwear. She really didn’t want to wear the same underwear two days in a row, but she also didn’t want to parade around town with nothing, especially in a dress.

She had just finished putting her bag together when a jolt of pain spread through her hip, the pain was so great Anastasias breath caught and tears formed in her eyes. Confused to why she was in such great pain she lifted her dress to inspect what was causing her such pain. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement; her mark had turned bright red, like someone had slapped her. However, what frightened her the most was that the redness was contained only to the hand print and nothing else. Anastasia didn’t want to freak out, but she knew that she had been alone last night, she had been a light sleeper all her life so unless that had changed when she…died. Either way, she would have been woken up by someone entering her room, she was certain. Brushing the idea away she finally told herself that she must had bumped into something on her way down the mountain and the shock of the day had made her numb to the pain. She nodded her head, trying to will that belief into existence before she made her way out of the room, deciding that she would find another place to stay the night.

When she made it downstairs she worried that it was going to be harder to hide herself than she first expected; the Inn was packed with people. It had taken Anastasias aback at first, it was like she was in a fantasy video game, some people had horns or scales, and the others were dressed like they were from the medical age, with just a hint of what she called dark castle asthenic. She kept her gaze on the ground as she made her way to the front desk; she tired her best to stay out of everyone’s way, not wanting any attention to fall upon her. Once she got to the front desk she noticed a small purple haired boy sitting behind the front desk and started to get concerned. How did this child end up behind the front desk, was he lost? However, before she could ask if the child was alright the same woman from the night before walked up to him from behind and sent a hard whack to the back of his head. Anastasia let out a small gasp as she covered her mouth, was this how they treated children?

“I told you before, Mineta, you are not to be behind the front desk, ribbit. You scare the guests, ribbit.” Tsuyu spat at him sending him crying off, the whack didn’t hurt it was his pride that had taken the largest blow.
“T-that wasn’t a child?” She asked before she placed her key on the desk.

“No, ribbit, that is just a nuisance.” Tsuyu said as she took back the room key, not questioning her about wanting to stay another night.

Anastasia thanked the Inn keeper before making her way through the crowd of people, stopping every once and a while to observe how they interacted with one another. She was going to need information on how the people acted in this world, or she would have a hard time blending in. However, as Anastasia observed the people in the Inn she was unaware that someone had also been observing her. Kirishima had made himself a small den the night before when he arrived; the Inn keeper didn’t mind or she hadn’t mentioned anything to him. He focused in on the woman in the brown cloak, Tsuyu, the Inn keeper had described her in more detail when he arrived the night before. It was hard to get a good look at her face when she kept her gaze fixed on the floor the entire time she was there, but he had a plan to make her look up, if only for a spit second. Once Anastasia made it to the door Kirishima moved to put his plan into action. He followed closed behind as the cloaked woman walked out of the Inn, making sure that he didn’t loose her. Kirishima’s plan wasn’t the best, but it was all he could come up with with such short notice, and one that didn’t draw any suspicion to him.

However, as time went on Kirishima soon found that his plan may not be as perfect as he thought, seeing that the majority of it was having someone else bump into her. As the cloaked woman finally entered a store he knew that he had to act, Prince Bakugou was not wait for much longer; and he did not want the Prince to rampage the streets looking for her. As Kirishima battled his thoughts looking for an answer Anastasia slowly walked through the clothing store, trying to figure out where the under garments were. She had passed a handful of lovely dresses, all in bold earth tones with silver or gold chains that reminded her old barbarian or Celtic attire. She wasn’t an expert, but she had done her share of roaming through Pinterest at two am. The dresses had caught her eyes but she pulled away, knowing that it was not what she was there for. As she wandered through the store until she met the back wall, she finally found something that reminded her of under garments, but they were a little different from what she was used too. She was so engrossed with her search that she didn’t hear the tiny footsteps making their way to her until she was tapped on the shoulder causing her to jump and almost fall on her ass.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” A young woman smiled above Anastasia extending her hand.

“No, uh… it’s alright, I just didn’t hear you. You’re very quiet.” Anastasia whispered and allowed the young woman to help her back onto her feet.

“Is there something in particular that you are searching for?”

“Umm… this may sound weird, but I… I’m not from around here and I’m looking for some new under garments. However, these… umm, I’m not used to these.” Anastasia mumbled out, hoping that her poor excuse was enough.

“Oh, where are you from, I haven’t heard of many places that don’t have similar garments like these.” Shit, she really hoped that the shop keeper wouldn’t question her, because she had no idea how to answer.

“Uh… not here, sorry… I’m really in a rush. I hope I’m not being rude.” She prayed that she wasn’t going to pissed her off.

“Oh, no you’re right. That was an invasion of privacy, I apologize.” The shop keeper bowed to Anastasia while she held a couple of garments to her chest.

“No, no… it’s okay.” She rushed out, hoping that the interaction wouldn’t draw attention. “If you could just help me pick out some pieces that would be great.” The shop keeper just smiled and nodded, handing Anastasia the garments in her hands.

“These should fit you fine,” She smiled and Anastasia smiled back. “By the way, I hope I am not over stepping again, but your hair is the most beautiful shade of white I have ever seen.” A sudden fear coursed through Anastasia as the realization that her hood had been down this entire time.

“Ugh, thanks!” A shout escaped before she could stop it and she pulled her hood back on. “I’ll take these.”

“Oh, alright.” The shop keeper didn’t seem fazed when Anastasia brushed off her compliment, as she rung up the under garments.

Through the entire transaction Anastasia tired to calm her raging her heart beat, one of the things she was told not to do… she had done. Shit, was this it, was a fucking mistake going to cost her her life? The extreme thoughts pulsed through her mind with each heartbeat, she eyes started to grow fuzzy as a sharp pain sliced through her lungs. Anastasia smiled through the pain as she paid for the under garments and stuffed them into her bag before leaving the store, trying to get some relief. However, when she stepped outside she was not met with relief and the sun that have been beating down on her through the cloak, was blocked by a looming shadow. Without looking Anastasia sprinted away from whoever was loaming over her, clutching the hood as her lungs burned.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Kirishima grumbled under his breath as he watched the cloaked woman sprint away from him.

Anastasia had messed up, and she knew it. The second she ran from the store she felt eyes on her, and even with the townspeople looking she knew someone else was watching her. The feeling was uncomfortable to say the least and she wished that she would be swept away from the prying eyes that kept watch over her. She ran until her lungs gave out and when she looked up she found herself somewhere she had never been. The streets were considerably dirtier from where she had been before and from the corner of her eye she swore that she saw mice running around. It was eerily quiet as the only sound was the wind running through the broken windows and alley ways. It was in that moment Anastasia felt another pair of eyes on her, and another wave of fear smashed into her. She heard footsteps come up from behind, sweat breaking out on her skin as the footsteps stopped. Her knees shook and threatened to buckle under her weight, but she planted them firm against the cobblestone and waited for what was to come.

“You know, running wasn’t very beauty cool of you.” Kirishima said as he stood behind the cloaked woman, who was shivering. “Running away when all I wanted to do was talk.”

Anastasia slowly turned around and noticed a red haired man smiling, it was an odd sight and not one that she had been expecting. She noticed that the man had horns, black straight horns that protruded from his forehead, almost blending in to his spiky red hair. She continued to size up the man before her, trying to gauge if the man was dangerous or not and the daggers on his belt were not helping his cause. At the same time Kirishima was trying to get a good look at the cloaked woman, but it didn’t help that she had it pulled it down. Beside the fact that he saw a brown cloak and yellow dress he couldn’t see anything else, which frustrated him. How was he going to help his friend when he couldn’t identify who she was.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry if I have, but you see, I’m in a bit of a bind.” Kirishima tired to speak in his gentleness tone.

“Ho-how does that affect me?” Anastasia spat and took a small step back, hoping that it wasn’t noticed.

However, Kirishima did notice and on instinct he shouted, “Stop, please! I’m not – please just listen.”

“I-I don’t have any need to listen to you, I don’t know you. I’m also guessing that you’ve followed me from the other side of town, why?” She screamed flipping her gaze to his, which allowed Kirishima to see the brilliant blue eyes he had been told about.

“So he was right,” A smile spread on his face, a genuine smile but none the less it caused Anastasia to catch her breath.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Your eyes, they are blue like the neighboring ocean. Is your also as white as the first snow fall?”

“W-who… no, I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please excuse me.” She stuttered and stumbled as her knees did buckle and she fell to the ground, her hood being knocked off.

“Are you okay?” The red haired boy rushed to her side and attempted to help her back on her feet, but was swatted away.

“Don’t touch me! I-I don’t… don’t hurt me.” Anastasia whispered, tears clouding her vision, truly scared of what was going to happen to her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I’m here on behalf of your mate.” The man smiled a teeth showing grin and reached out his hand.

“W-what?” She whispered, and reached out for the out stretched hand before she froze. “If you were truly here on behalf of my mate, what’s his name?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” He smiled, “Prince Katsuki Bakugou, my best friend! Do you believe me now?”

“Lots of people could know that we are mates… especially if you are apart of… either way, I can’t trust you off that by itself.” Anastasia pulled her hand away and pulled her hood back, really debating to glue it to her forehead.

“I really don’t know what else to say that would help. We got a note from the Froppy Inn last night saying that a woman fitting your description and even though the Prince wanted to go get you himself I told him that it may not be the best idea for him to storm in late at night and take you while you slept.” He laughed, scratching the back of his head and continued, “So I suggested that I go and camp out at the Inn to make sure you were safe. He’s protective ya know.”

“I would say more possessive from that statement.” She mumbled but at this point, she was pretty sure that he could be trusted.

“Well ya, I guess. Either way, do you believe me? ‘Cause I promised that I would bring you back to the castle today and he would be pretty mad if I didn’t deliver.”

“I’m not a piece of property that needs to be delivered, I’m a person.”

“Right, I’m not saying that you aren’t, I was just saying that – uh, it does sound like that doesn’t it. Sorry.”

“If I trust you and you aren’t who you say you are, I’m dead.” She told him dead faced. “How do I know you won’t kill me.”

“I would never kill you, you are the Prince’s mate, my best friend’s mate, you are family.” Anastasia was surprised by how serious his tone was and when she saw his face, she knew that he was someone she could trust.

“O-okay, I’ll trust you.” She said and hoped that her voice wasn’t shaking.

“Awesome! He’ll be so excited to see you, probably pacing through the stone in his room as we speak.”

Kirishima took Anastasias hand pulling her along with him as he walked through the dirty cobblestone streets, looking back every once and a while to make sure that she was doing well. If Anastasia was honest she wasn’t very happy being pulled along, but wasn’t going to complain, just yet. However, after 30 minutes of walking Anastasia stopped which made Kirishima almost reel back and fall on her. He turned worried that something was wrong, but he sighed when all he saw was a pissed off Anastasia looking back at him. Her feet were hurting and she was sweaty, she wanted – no, needed to take a break or she was not going to be happy.

“I need to sit down, my feet hurt.”

“We’re almost there see,” He pointed toward in the direction they were heading, and he was right, the castle was close; but it was also on top of a steep hill.

“I’m not walking up that hill when my feet hurt, I’m taking a break or you can carry me. What’s your decision?” She crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture hoping to show that she meant business.

“Alright,” Kirishima sighed as she smiled a triumphant grin. “Get on, we don’t have much longer before he comes down to search for you himself.”

“Huh?”

“You said either a break or for me to carry you, and since we don’t have time for a break I think the best option is for you to get on my back.”

“No, I’m in a dress.” She spat, she didn’t think that he would choose the second option.

“I don’t have much of a choice, you put me in a bad spot, now you can either get on my back or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you that way.” Kirishima knew that he got the woman now, there was no way she would let me carry her over his shoulder, especially when she made such a fuss over a piggy back.

“Yo-you wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh I would.”

“Ugh, fine you win.” She grunted and walked around Kirishima who was getting ready carry her.

It took him a second to realize that she had walked away, and laughed silently before catching up to walk beside her. He noticed that her mood had gotten worse, most likely from her sore feet and his teasing. However, he didn’t mind, he had a job to do and knew better than anyone what would happen if he didn’t complete it. Time passed before they came across the steep hill leading to the castle gates, and Kirishima would’ve sworn that the woman beside him had whispered multiple profanities under her breath. He held in his chuckle and took her by the arm, almost dragging her until she got he own momentum going. It was halfway up the stairs to the castle door when Anastasia felt that her lungs were going to give out and when she turned to the smiling ass beside her for assistance he wasn’t there. She wasn’t surprised when she was that he was a couple steps ahead of her, looking like the long hike hadn’t even affected him. To be fair they lived in a different world where physical labor seemed heavily relevant in everyone’s daily life. While Anastasia on the other hand only did the mandatory gym classes in high school and got out when she could. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t active, she loved yoga and did walk around her campus, but cardio was never her strongest area. It was times like these that she really wished she picked up running when she was younger instead of binge watching episodes of her favorite anime.

“You’re slowing down,” Kirishima teased as he made it to the top of the stair case, waving down at her. “Want me to come down there and help?”

She couldn’t say anything back to him as she wanted to conserve her energy, it would be a lot more satisfying if she could hit him. That thought stirred up motivation inside of her and somehow she made it to the top without dying. However, the second she made it she fell to her knees, the burning pain from earlier that morning had come back with no notice at all. She wanted to cry, it felt as though her hip was on fire. She didn’t know how long she was kneeling for before Kirishima knelt down beside her, expecting a tired look on her face and getting nervous when he saw tears. He tired to pull her attention towards him, but found it impossible as Anastasia whimpered in pain and dug her nails into her skin.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” There was worry in his voice, more worry than he cared to share with the guards standing around.

“Get me inside, I need to lay down, please.” She whispered before another wave of heat washed over the mark which caused a painful cry loud enough to be heard around the castle.

“Shit.” Kirishima had no doubt that Bakugou heard that scream and only had a few moments to get her inside to somewhere safe before he came to find her.

Against his better judgment Kirishima picked up the crying girl, forcing her head into his chest in order to protect her from the wandering eyes of the guards and staff. Bakugou wouldn’t be thrilled that he was holding her, no scratch that, he knew that the second the Prince saw his dragon holding this girl, he would loose it. Kirishima had to act fast as loud bangs were heard from above in the castle; shit he was already loosing it. Unconsciously Kirishimas grip got tighter and Anastasia winced, the man was stronger than he looked. Which was saying something, she didn’t notice it at first, but she couldn’t avoid it as she was pressed against his bare chest. The man holding her had muscles hard as a rock, which made sense since Kirishima trained every day. He was the dragon to Prince Bakugou and needed to be battle ready at a moments notice. However, this time around, the battle that loomed over his head was coming from no other than his sparing partner, the man who he had not won one session to since they were kids.

“Do you think you can walk now?” He asked the quiet woman in his arms, hoping that her answer was yes.

“I-I can try.” She whispered, and wished that she could just lay her head down and take a nap.

“Good,” Kirishima let her go faster than expected and she almost tumbled over but caught herself, sending a mean look back at him. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”

“You basically dropped me why wou – ahh!!” Anastasias sentence was cut off by another wave of searing pain and at this point she debating whether she would be better off craving the mark out.

Suddenly Anastasia felt cold, it was a cold sweat that reminded her of when she was little and ran a high fever; but she wasn’t sick. She searched for reasons to the sudden temperature change but as soon as she moved her head, her body got hot and she felt sick. With weak legs from the long walk it didn’t surprise her that they gave out from under her and she would have landed against the hard ground if it wasn’t for a pair of hands catching her. The pain was starting to fade fast and under normal circumstances she would think nothing of it, would be happy that it was leaving. However, as the pain faded Anastasia found herself also fading away. Her vision was growing black spots and she was loosing the ability to hear as peoples muffled voices got softer. What she knew from the situation was that it didn’t look to good for her, did she trust the wrong person? Anastasia could still feel her body, but that was fading as well, and fast. She knew she was being shaken and it seemed rougher than what the red haired man would do, it felt urgent. However, she soon found that she could no longer hold a thought together as the darkness creeping swallowed her whole.

This by far was the scariest moment of Bakugous life, he didn’t think anything would ever top it. He felt his mate the second she walked inside the castle; he had been attempting to control his anger by kneading the mark on his neck, but to no avail. He had heard about the feeling before, the gut wrenching feeling of loss, but had never experienced it before himself; but when he heard that scream. He swore for a spilt second and he thought he had felt it, loss. Bakugou tore through the staff wandering the halls, pushing them aside without a care, his only goal was his mate. However, when he reached the front hall he was not prepared and that was when he knew he felt the feeling of loss; because lying on the ground was his mate. He didn’t give a second thought and rushed over to her, pulling her from his dragon’s grasps and into his own. The hall went silent, no one had ever seen the Prince act in this type of manner before, it was almost concerning. Looking down he saw that the skin of his mate was pale and he didn’t remember it being that pale in his dreams.

“What happened?” He spat out his question and Kirishima knew it was directed at him.

“She started crying and whimpering the second she made it up those stairs. She wouldn’t tell me why.” His dragon told the truth, it was impossible for them to lie to one another.

“Mate.” Bakugou whispered and gathered her up in his arms and pulled her in until her face was flush against his skin. “She’s cold, why is she so cold?”

Bakugou pulled her faced away from his chest just enough for him to inspect her once more, she was sweating more, causing her hair to stick to her skin. None of this made sense to him, had she been poisoned on the way here, if that were the case it was nothing he had ever seen before. The Prince stood up with his mate in his arms who at this point had gone limp, an indication that she had passed out. Which worried him, but he wouldn’t allow others to see his weakness. The Prince turned to his faithful dragon once and glaring for a second longer than he should have before walking away. Kirishima knew what look meant, he wasn’t on very good standings. However, it wasn’t the fear of being beaten by his friend that sent chills up his spine, it was the fear for his best friend’s mate who had just collapsed in front of everyone.

Chapter Text

It had been hours since Bakugou had locked himself in his chambers with his mate, not opening the door for anyone. There were many people that had tired to get inside, but every time a person knocked on the wooden door he would let out a deep growl. The growl emanated through the castle, letting everyone know that he was not to be disturbed again. He looked back to his bed where his mate was sleeping, she hadn’t moved or made any indication that she would be waking any time soon. Which concerned him, deeply, and was debating on summoning the Kingdoms physician. However, he buried his fear and made his way over where she was sleeping. In order to make her more comfortable he had removed her bag, cloak and boots before laying one of his best furs over her. She had stopped sweating a while back and he knew that she would need to change, sooner rather than later, unless he wanted her to get a fever. Bakugou sighed and fisted his hands at his side, anger coursing through his veins at the thought of her sick.

He wanted to lock her away in his chambers, away from anyone or anything that could possibly cause her harm. If he had his way that would be exactly what would happen, but he had a feeling that she would not back down that easy. The thought of a woman as small as her going against a warrior like himself, it brought a smirk to his lips before he let out a quiet chuckle. He sat down on the edge of the bed, making sure to not disturb her slumber; he didn’t know if he should have tired to wake her, but she looked to peaceful for him to wake. Bakugou kept his gaze focused on his mate, watching the rise and fall of her chest and the occasional flicker under her closed eyelids; he hoped that she was dreamt of something pleasant, preferably him. The more he stared at his mate he could feel the urge to mate her grow stronger; but he wasn’t a dick and would wait for her.

The mating process was a private and sacred ritual that only a few couples blessed by the Gods were allowed to take part in; and he was lucky enough to be one of those fated couples, even if it took longer than he had expected. Since it was such a sacred ritual many had their own theories and beliefs on what happed during, but no one spoke of it. In order for the souls of the fated to be bound together the fated couple would have to drink a special potion that allowed their shared bond to open, which allowed the souls to intertwine with one another’s. Once the ritual was complete the souls would have a bond stronger than time, allowing them to find one another no matter the circumstance.

When he was younger, he never knew what the mark on his neck meant, but knew it held some importance by how the members of the Kingdom would react when they saw it. He had read whatever he could on the mating process when he was told what the mark on his neck meant; at first he was overwhelmed with anger that even though he had a mate, she had been taken before they could meet. However, as time passed and that anger transformed into determination, which thankfully lead to this day. He knew some would say that he had nothing to do with her coming back and he was truthful, he didn’t care how she made it back. The only thing that mattered to him now was the safety of his mate. Suddenly he was torn from his thoughts as a sound came from beside him; his mate was waking up.

Anastasia didn’t know where she was, the last thing she could remember was that stupid dragon making her climb those stairs, everything after that was just black. Before she even opened her eyes she knew that she was somewhere warm, or something warm had been placed over her, she didn’t care either way. As she shifted in what she assumed was a bed she noticed that her hip was no longer burning and wondered if what ever was causing her that pain had stopped, or if she had just become numb. A rough finger moved against her cheek and Anastasia groaned but still found herself moving towards the finger, finding warmth from whoever was there. She heard a chuckle came from beside her and Anastasia’s eyes flew open, finally realizing what was happening. In an instant the finger that was stroking her cheek turned into a whole hand, the hard calloused fingers gripping along the side of her neck and the thumb resting on her cheek.

She blinked as her vision came back and found a blond haired, red eye man hovering above her, staring deep into her eyes. She gulped and broke the eye contact and tired to pull herself out of the man’s grip, but found she couldn’t. The man grunted above her, moving his other hand around behind her head and pulled her into a sitting position, which caused her legs to fumble over his. Anastasia pushed her hands out, having them land directly on his bare chest, with his necklaces adorned with sharp and colorful beads scratching her skin. To say that she wasn’t surprised with the mans strength would be a lie, who wouldn’t be, he had managed to pull her up using only one hand at the back of her neck. So when she stared wide eyed at the man she had no one to blame beside him, the man with crimson eyes and spiky blond hair, who was still holing her by the neck.

“Ugh… c-could you let go of me…” She asked and added, “please.”

Anastasia expected the man to let her go, instead he ignored her and moved the hand from her neck to mirror his other. He was holding her face with strong hands, but for an odd reason she felt no ill intent. Instead, a strange feeling washed over her and it wasn’t strange in the way she had never felt it before, no… it was strange because she felt safe being held by the man. She could feel heat radiate from his skin, the hands holding her cheeks warmed her until she grew flush, but that also could have come from the realization that her hands were on his naked chest. Breaking eye contact once more she looked, at her best ability, to where her hands were placed… now even though she was in College, Anastasia had little experience in the art of dating. So, when she noticed she hands pressed against the bare, hard chest muscles she wished the ground would’ve opened and swallowed her whole; but the universe seemed to have different plans.

Bakugou watched his mate get distracted by his body, and he did not mind in the slightest. He was proud to watch her gaze on him with such curiosity and when she blushed, his mind went to places it probably shouldn’t have. Those places consisted of having her naked, writhing under him as he made an effort to get to know every part of her body, where she was ticklish, what places would make her shiver and his favorite, where she would flinch or cry out his name. He couldn’t hold back the low rumble echoing through his chest when he pictured her, flustered with a pink tinge across her sweating skin calling out his name, only wanting him, only needing him. Looking down once more he could see that she was still preoccupied and with the fresh images still roaming in his head, his body acted. Without warning he pulled her head back up and pressed his forehead to hers, taking in the scent of… was that oranges? He relished in her scent for a moment longer and Anastasia could only sit there, wide eyed and shocked. Was he smelling her? Was she supposed to smell him? No, why on earth was she thinking that?

Before she could figure out why her brain thought that smelling him would be a good option her head was yanked back, Bakugou had his fingers interlaced in his mates snow white hair. He had been baffled by the colour in his dream, wondering if it was right or not, but now that he had her, practically in his lap, he knew that it was all real. His breath was hot against her face, causing goose bumps to form and a large shiver to run down her spine. With a cocky grin Bakugou placed the fingers from his free hand on Anastasias lips, tracing their outline before tugging on the bottom lip. For an odd reason all Anastasia could do was sit and allow this man to touch her, it wasn’t like she hated to be touched by him and that, that thought scared her. How was she alright with a man she didn’t know touching her this way, she had never been touched before; and it wasn’t like she hadn’t tired. However, every time she attempted to hook up or find a date, they always bailed, no matter the gender, which didn’t really matter to her.

She was snapped back into reality when she felt something warm and soft press against her lips. Bakugou had pressed his lips against hers and wasn’t disappointed. Her lips were soft, it was the first thing he noticed about the kiss, they were soft and plump. He hadn’t known what caused him to kiss her or when he even moved, at first he was admiring how her body reacted to him being so close, and the next thing he knew his lips were against hers. It took a couple seconds for Anastasia to fully comprehend what was happening, that the man holding her by the neck was now kissing her. In those seconds he must have thought she was okay with what was happening because he started to lower her to the bed and that movement caused something to snap within her.

“Get off!” Anastasia shouted, her voice muffled by the kiss as she used her hands and legs to push and kick.

“Oi! Watch were you’re kicking!” Bakugou shouted back as he pulled away from the kiss, his grip still firm against the back of her neck.

“Then don’t kiss a person without consent! Get off!” Bakugou froze and silently cursed himself, he hadn’t meant to kiss her without consent but when she didn’t move he thought she was okay with it.

“I didn’t know! You didn’t push me away in the beginning, I thought you were okay with it!”

“I was in shock!” Anastasia thrashed around in his hold, desperate to remove his hand from her neck, but his grip never faltered.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep thrashing around, keep still.” He demanded as he attempted to get a hold of her failing limbs.
“I wouldn’t get hurt if you just let go of my fucking neck! You’re squeezing so tight that there’s going to be a mark!”

He suddenly let her go and Anastasia gasped as the weight holding her up disappeared and she fell back onto the bed, the whole thing almost knocked the wind out of her. Bakugou couldn’t believe how stupid he just was, he had found her passed out, covered in sweat and the first thing he did to her when she woke was attack her. How the hell was he going to apologize for that? After a few seconds passed Bakugou stood up from the bed and didn’t look back to his mate lying, breathless with her yellow dress in disarray. Instead he walked to the wooden door and unlatched the brass lock before pulling the door open.

Anastasia laid on the bed, her hair still a mess, the yellow dress was riding up her thighs and she knew that she should fix it before she moved the wrong way and gave someone a show. The fur was still draped over parts of her body so when she moved to sit up it shuffled down and settled in her lap. Her fingers ran through the soft brown fur, it was soothing for her and before she knew it she had crossed her legs and hunched her back to almost lay her chest against the fur. Sure, for most people it wouldn’t be a comfortable position, but for a girl who did yoga once a day, it was very comfy. Her fingers traced different designs and patterns in the fur and sighed, how the hell had things ended up this way?

Bakugou had meant to leave the room to give her some time alone, but there was part of him that didn’t want to leave and that part kept his feet from moving out into the hall. He wished that he could do that all over, that he could introduce himself to his mate properly and not attack her the moment she woke. Frustration crashed into him and he ran his fingers through his spiky hair, pulling hard enough to feel pain. He was ashamed of himself for acting the way he did and wished he could correct it, or go back in time and never do it; but he knew that wasn’t a possibility. He knew that he was going to have to live with the fact that he attacked his mate, fuck… he didn’t even know her name. Bakugou felt his eyes start to burn but pressed the palms against them, forcing whatever tears that were threatening to leave back inside. He wouldn’t cry, he had no right to cry in this situation, if anyone had a right to cry it would be his mate. Hesitant to look back, he pictured his mate curled into a ball, tears streaming down her face when she realized what her mate had done. Instead, when he looked back he saw her with her body basically folded together as she traced designs in the fur he gave her. It was not what he had imagined, far from it.

“I can feel you staring at me, stop.” She mumbled and pulled herself back into a sitting position.

“Name?” Bakugou grunted as he turned back around so that his cape met her.

“Huh? You’re seriously gonna ask me my name instead of giving me an apology?” Anastasia sat there baffled.

“Is an apology really going to change what I did?” He spat out.

“Yeah, it would have been a good idea to apologize.” Anastasia spat back to him and shoved the fur away and stood up.

“Where’s my stuff?” She asked when she noticed herself in the standing mirror, her cloak and bag were missing.

She tired not to stare at herself in the mirror, but this had been the first time she had seen herself since she came to this world. Her hair had turned snow white and the length had gotten longer, it reached the middle of her waist. Her eyes had also changed; they were now blue. However, everything else about her seemed to have stayed the same, and she sighed; she was still short. Well, she was 5’4 and had always wanted to be taller, she thought it would have been nice if she grew taller when she came to this world… but it seemed she would never grow past 5’4. Anastasia moved her hands through her long hair, it had been the softest it had ever been and it was a little ironic that it took her to die to have great hair and skin. Bakugou tilted his head so he could grab a glance at his mate standing in front of the mirror and god, he thought his heart had stopped. There was his beautiful mate staring at herself completely lost in whatever thoughts danced through her head; and he soon found himself moving towards her and just as he was going to reach out to her, but stopped himself. He didn’t deserve to touch her again and that thought hurt, it felt as though a piece of his heart died.

“You’re staring at me again.” Anastasia whispered as she saw his reflection in the mirror. “Why are you… who are you?!”

“You’re stunning, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as beautiful as you.” It slipped out before Bakugou could shut his mouth and he watched his mates face redden with a harsh blush.

“T-that isn’t answering my questions.” Anastasia stuttered and moved away from both the mirror and the man. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“Didn’t shitty hair explain everything to you?”

“Shitty hair? Who the hell is that?”

Suddenly, the red haired dragon slid into the doorway, only stumbling once before leaning his back against the doorway. Kirishima had a large smile plastered on his face with his sharp teeth on full display as he turned to look over at the fated pair, who seemed to be in the middle of an argument. He wanted to interject and tease them, but he knew better since he didn’t want to die that day. Instead he waited until it seemed like they were going to cool down, but when they continued to argue without noticing him; he knew he had to interject. He sighed and pinched his forehead with his thumb and middle finger, shaking his head as he pictured what their future would be like. It started to bug him when Anastasia and Bakugou still didn’t notice the dragon watching them. Kirishima slammed his hand against the wooden door catching their attention.

“Why the hell are you doing here shitty hair!” Bakugou shouted and clenched his hands at his side.

“Wait? Your shitty hair?” Anastasia asked and walked towards the dragon leaning against the door frame.

“Well, my name is Eijirou Kirishima, he has just given me the name shitty hair. Don’t ask me why?” The dragon smiled, that toothy grin before he pushed himself away from the door and walked into the room.

“So, it seems like you’ve met, ha-ha… didn’t expect you guys to get into a fight so early on.” He chuckled and leaned onto Bakugous shoulder, but was pushed off before he could even get comfortable.

“What the hell man!”

“What the hell! What did you tell her? She doesn’t know who I am!” Bakugou shouted and gripped his friend by the collar of his vest.

“Come on, you’re seriously telling me that she didn’t put two and two together?” He looked over to the girl standing confusion written on her face.

“Well maybe you didn’t fucking tell her properly! If you fucking told what was happening and who we were she wouldn’t have – our first meeting would have turned out better.”

“W-wait… you’re the guy from before, the one who took me here… then… you’re the Prince.” Anastasia whispered as she tired to string along a sentence that even made sense.

“Well, seems like she figured it out now, all wells that ends well.” Kirishima grinned and pushed himself out of his friend’s grip.

“Yeah, I’m the prince and your mate.” He grunted and glanced over, no emotion showing on his face.

“M-mate… yeah… I forgot that was a thing for a minute.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes and sat down on the bed with a groan. “I really forgot about that.”

The men in the room just stared back at Anastasia as she tired to wrap her head around what was happening. They both looked back with an almost comically confused expression, one that in normal situations would have made her belly laugh; but this was a different kind of situation. Anastasia pushed away the confusion and took a deep breath before standing up from the bed and walked to the corner of the room where her things were stored. As she made her way over she couldn’t help but feel the pairs of eyes from the men watching her every move, they probably thought she was going to make a break for it. She couldn’t blame them for thinking that, and there were parts of her that did want to run away. However, she knew that it would get her no where, from what Nana said she was safest with her mate, who happened to be the Prince. She also remembered the rules and wouldn’t risk running away without her hood and by placing it in the far corner away from the door made it near impossible for her to grab her things and run away without being noticed. Either the Prince was smart or the placement of the large leather chair was pure coincidence.

The chamber was large and had one large bed covered in furs and an array of pillows in the dead center of the room. The chamber itself was made of stone walls and floors, which lead her to believe that she was truly inside the castle. The room was similar in ways to the one she had stayed in the night before, but at the same time it was vastly different. While it had the similar lights on the walls the room also had a large hanging light that was centered on the ceiling. She sighed knowing that this one room was probably going to nicer than her entire apartment, and the more she looked around she found that it was truly nicer than her apartment. It wasn’t decorated as she expected a Princes room to be decorated, there wasn’t any flash of rich, elegant furniture or anything that screamed out to her as saying “hi, I’m a Prince.” Instead, it looked like a room of someone who didn’t need much. She came to that conclusion based off the fact that beside the bed, leather chair and mirror, there wasn’t much else to the room. There were a couple windows and tapestry’s that matched the overall theme of the room, but besides that the room seemed… cozy?

The men looked at one another as Anastasia was walking towards her belongings, there was a stillness to the air before they acted. Kirishima quietly made his way over to the doorway that was still open, not wanting to alarm the girl but he needed to make sure that the only exit was guarded incase she did make an attempt in leaving. It wasn’t that they were forcing her into staying – actually, know that he thought more about it, they were holding her here. Kirishima shook the thought away, he needed to keep her safe and if that consisted of keeping her locked away… he would grin and bear it to keep her safe. Bakugou on the other hand wasn’t going to take any chances and made his way over to her, standing far enough back that she wouldn’t notice his presence. If she was thinking of trying to run away once she gathered her things, he made sure that the second she turned around she would run directly into his chest. Both men stood in silence as they watched and waited for Anastasia to make her move but were surprised when she just turned to face them, not indicating in any way that she was going to run.

Suddenly, Anastasia started to walk past Bakugou, the pace didn’t show any urgency which confused the men at first. If she wasn’t going to run where was she going? However, just as Anastasia was about to move past Bakugou’s reach he threw his arm out, catching her by her cloak and pulled the girl into his chest. His arm wrapped itself tightly around her waist, pressing her against his body with enough force that she could feel the long necklaces that hung around his neck digging into her back through the fabric. For Anastasia the whole interaction seemed to last no longer than five seconds and was shocked by the harsh grip digging into her. Her bag was still lodged between her arms and body, but with the added pressure from the Princes grip she found it quite painful to have there and wanted it gone. Her finger nails dug into the exposed flesh of his arms, drawing small specs of blood but he still didn’t move.

Bakugou didn’t even flinch when his mate scratched him, knowing that he deserved a lot more than just a scratch from his previous actions. He noticed her struggle as he held her tight, not daring to let go and give her the chance to run away. His grip didn’t loosen when he rested his head on the inside of her neck, inhaling the smell of oranges that radiated from her.

Kirishima relaxed his posture at the door, but didn’t move. From what he was watching there was no way she was going to get out of his grip without Bakugou allowing it. Some part of him felt bad for her, she never wanted any of this, she didn’t sign up to be the Princes mate and be forced into whatever shit this whole situation was going to bring forward. He wished that she had been here since the start, since the Prince was a kid; it would’ve been a lot easier for everyone if that had been the case. Sadly, it wasn’t, and everyone had to come to terms with that and it looked as though it wasn’t going to be easy. She was still struggling and Bakugou either didn’t notice, or didn’t care. However, Kirishima noticed how uncomfortable she was and started to get concerned when his friends added another arm around her chest and played with her hair, tracing his fingers along the exposed skin of her jaw.

“Bakugou let her go.” Kirishima flat out said, no emotion shown as he spoke.

“Huh?” Bakugou grunted and snapped his head up to see his dragon still standing in the doorway.

“Your grip is to tight, she can’t move.”

“Ha, you’re serious?” The man let out a deep chuckle beside Anastasia’s ear which sent a large shiver down her spine, one that hadn’t gone unnoticed from Bakugou. “That’s the whole god damn point! You think I’m about to let her go for her to just run off?”

“I don’t think she’ll run, look at her. She’s white as a ghost.” Bakugou didn’t need to move to know that what Kirishima had said was the truth, but he didn’t want to let her go. She was his mate after all.

“Bakugou if you don’t let her go, I’m going to have to make you; for her own safety.” Kirishima started as he slowly started to move away from the door, inching towards them slowly.

“Ha! You can’t take me on –.”

“No, but I can force you to let her go by fighting you, and trust me I have no problem getting beat to a fucking pulp if it gets you let her go!” Kirishima shouted and interrupted Bakugou mid-sentence.

“What?” Bakugou couldn’t believe what his friend was saying. “You really do want to get the shit beat out of you.”

“If that’s what it takes for you to realize that you’re being a fucking dick! Then yes, go ahead, beat the shit out of me.” Kirishima had made it close enough to where he could touch his friend, but instead of instigating a fight, he waited for his friends’ decision.

Bakugou stayed still and silent while he allowed the words to sink in, he didn’t want to think that his actions were harmful, but somewhere deep down he knew that his friend was right. Without breaking eye contact from Kirishima he slowly began to loosen his grip until it was enough for Anastasia to push herself out. She stumbled for a few steps before she got her footing, Bakugou noticed her breathing was heavy and rapid. Had he actually been holding her that tight? When she was able to catch her breath Anastasia walked back to the men who were stilled locked in what appeared to be an endless staring contest to her. Without a second thought she pushed herself between the men so that she was faced Bakugou and slapped him as hard as she could, not paying any attention to the sharp pain radiating through her wrist.

“Don’t ever touch me again,” Anastasia seethed and both men stood in shocked silence, “you don’t have the right to touch me ever! I couldn’t breathe! You didn’t let me go!”

Both men couldn’t believe that she had just slapped Bakugou. No one had ever slapped him in the face, now he wasn’t immune to the occasional hits from his parents; but no one other than them had ever laid a hand on him in such a manner. Bakugou didn’t care that he was slapped, he didn’t care about the stinging pain that burned across his cheek. No, all he cared about in that moment was that his mate was in pain. Anastasia was gripping her sore hand as he hoped that she hadn’t broken her hand by slapping someone, she had no experience in fighting before so she didn’t know if it was supposed to hurt or not. The painful grimace didn’t go unnoticed, and when she started to guard her hand Bakugou knew that she was hurt. In the moment there was no warning bells flashing, no thoughts telling him that what he was about to do was stupid; no his mind was blank. It was instinct that made Bakugou reach out, he needed to make sure that she was okay, it was obvious that she as in pain and he needed to do something about it.

Kirishima stood frozen in shock by what had happened that when he noticed Bakugou start to move towards her, he couldn’t react fast enough to stop him. Anastasias eyes widen with fear as she watched his hand reach out to her; but that fear was quickly turned into pure hate. She acted on her own instinct, which in that moment was to clench her throbbing hand into a tight fist and punch him. She didn’t scream, to be honest she didn’t even feel pain but she knew it was from the adrenaline and as soon as that left she was going to be in a lot of pain. However, the blood that trickled down his nose was worth all the pain in the world.

“I hate you!” Anastasias’ voice cracked and tears of anger rolled down her face. “I will never –.”

Before Anastasia could finish her sentence Bakugou snapped his head back and the intensity rolled off him in waves. The fear that had been pushed aside by anger was now back in full force as she watched him. Kirishima had also snapped back from whatever shock when she landed that punch and made the quick decision to put himself between both of them. Kirishima didn’t know what was going to happen, but he knew that he couldn’t allow her to get hurt. However, Bakugou made no attempts to reach out for her again, his anger was at a boiling point and if he didn’t get rid of it somehow he was going to let it out, in the worse possible way. So instead of exploding right then and there as he wanted, he clenched his fist and spoke in a harsh tone toward Kirishima.

“Look after her hand and tell everyone to get their asses straight to the arena. I need to punch something.” Bakugou stormed out of the room and slammed the door so hard that the wood splintered.