Bakugou's PoV

It was already dark when we made our way to Denki. Mina had agreed to accompany us to him, after all I knew him only fleetingly and to convince him all alone of Red wouldn't be easy. I held Red's hand firmly in mine and had taken off my cape so that I was not too easily identified as someone from the royal household. The half dragon was unusually quiet the whole time, but I didn't know how to address him in Mina's presence.

Mina led us through half the city until we arrived in a rather run-down district. In the narrow streets there were still a lot of people, which was probably due to the numerous pubs that were open. The blacksmith ran purposefully between the many, partly very drunk people, through to a certain tavern. The wooden door was painted green and on the brass sign above it was written: "The Golden Lightning Bolt".

Red's grip tightened as we entered the crowded and unbelievably loud guest room. I couldn't completely suppress my nervousness either. We were hunted and going into a room full of people who could recognize us felt incredibly wrong. Mina, however, did not lose her determination when we entered the room, but walked straight towards the furthest back table. As we approached, I recognized Denki Kaminari's unmistakably golden mop of hair.

But his head lay on the table, his unmistakable brown hat with the feather right next to it. One hand was in his lap, while the other was still on his half-full beer mug. I hesitated as we took the last steps towards him. Did we really want to entrust our future to someone like that? A drunkard and a good-for-nothing?

But Mina didn't hesitate at all. She walked towards him and kicked him in the shin. Denki jerked up and stared at her. "Damn Mina, what have I done to deserve this?" he hissed and rubbed his shinbone.

"Shouldn't the owner of this pub at least be awake and present?" she asked laughing.

"I am present," he defended himself, but he sat upright and stroked a golden blonde strand behind his ear. As always, he had dyed in a black lightning stroke. He grabbed his hat and put it on. Waiting and with his eyebrow raised, he looked up at Mina. But when she said nothing, his gaze wandered to me and Red. His golden-yellow eyes widened when he recognized me.

"Hey Bakugou! Long time no see!" he shouted joyfully surprised, as if we were old friends. Great, he couldn't shout my name out loud in this situation! I quickly closed the short distance and put my hand on his mouth.

Denki flinched and looked at me in surprise. I hurriedly looked around the taproom, but the volume was so high and the people in too good a mood for anyone to notice Denki's exclamation. "Shut up, idiot," I hissed into his ear.

The pub owner nodded once, even though a crease had formed between his eyebrows. But I hesitated. I still didn't trust this idiot. What if he took the opportunity as soon as I took his hand off his mouth and betrayed us? Eventually I had made it more than clear to him with my move that I don't want to be recognized. But before I could think more about it, I felt something wet on my hand.

I quickly put my hand away and stared at him in horror. "Did you just seriously lick my hand?" I hissed and wiped my palm off on my pants.

Denki chuckled and for a short time I had the almost insurmountable urge to punch him. But then I heard a second chuckle. I turned around and saw Red, who had raised his hand stealthily in front of his predator teeth but grinned unmistakably behind it. A mischievous sparkle was reflected in his red eyes, which wandered back and forth between Denki and me.

"That's not funny," I grumbled and shook my hand in disgust.

"Sorry, Baku. But that was funny," Red replied amusedly, taking a step forward and giving me a short kiss on the lips. This tender gesture in public astounded me for a moment, but his closeness, as always, immediately calmed me down and Denki's impertinence receded into the back of my mind. He looked at Red in surprise and examined him closely.

But before he could make a comment, Mina cleared his throat. "Denki ... can we talk to each other somewhere alone?"

"Sure, let's go to the back," the golden blonde said casually and got up. Mina followed him directly and I grabbed Red's hand again involuntarily before we forced our way through the tables as well.

Denki led us past the counter to a back room. He opened the door, the wood of which was painted green just like the front door, and waved us in before entering himself and closing the door behind him with a soft click. With this soft click the loud noises of the inn were banished and made them fade into a soft murmur. What remained was the silence of the small room and four people staring at each other uneasily.

"So. What would the great dragonslayer Bakugou want from me? I am curious! But first sit down," Denki finally said, clapping his hands and pointing to the small round table in the middle of the room.

Hesitantly, I sat down. I remembered what it was like when I last met him. It hadn't been part of my mission and I was only moderately interested in the incident, but it had been one of my troop who had walked him off after being caught playing illegal poker. I didn't know whether he was the organizer or just a player. Would he see me as someone who had reported him? Would he really agree to help me? Or maybe he would even screw us over? But Mina seemed to trust him and I trusted her.

Denki stared at me, expecting me to start talking. My gaze wandered to Mina, who raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Denki to also make it clear to me that I should begin to speak. Uneasily I slid around on my chair.

But in the end, it was Red who spoke. "As you can probably imagine, we need your help. So by we I mean Bakugou and me. We need to get out of the city and we need to get out unchecked."

Denki raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Damn, what have you done?" He looked back and forth between the two of us, but when he felt our tension, his grin quickly disappeared. "Seriously now. Bakugou, you are a dragonslayer. You are at the top of the military hierarchy! Why do you of all people need help to get out of the city?" Confused, he looked at me.

I sighed. "You could say I deserted."