Bakugou's PoV

Over the next two days, we fell into a kind of routine. In the morning we set off and followed the Kuma in the air a few hours upstream. Then Red landed before dawn and we looked for a nice place on the shore, or a little further away under one of the densely leaved trees.

Mostly Red hunted for us. Not that I don't have some experience as well, but in his dragon form Red was a born hunter. His sharp eyes, his good hearing and the sharp teeth managed to find and kill even the hardest detectable bounty and he seemed to have fun with it.

We drank from the clear river, fried the meat over the bonfire and enjoyed the togetherness. It may sound a little strange, but I enjoyed the time. It was true, we were outcasts in this country and were persecuted, but still we didn't feel like we had to worry much. Red flew faster than a horse could cover in one day and if we went on like this, we could certainly lose our pursuers.

The biggest worry I had, however, was that we were getting closer and closer to the city Kyotawa. It belonged to one of the three big cities of the country and was therefore a place we had to avoid at all costs. Kyotawa was located on the southern shore of the great Niwa Lake. Of course, we would have to stay on the northern shore, but even that I thought was very risky.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Red, who had noticed my thoughtful expression.

"I think we should start our next flight at night," I said slowly.

Red tilted his head a little questioningly. "Sure, we can do that. But what exactly led you to this decision?"

"After our next flight we should reach the shore of Lake Niwa and will be in close proximity to Kyotawa. This is not a village like Tamio or such a small town like Ariko. It is one of the three big cities and therefore a military base and is up to date with the newest technology. If they spot you in the sky, it's far too dangerous. Honestly, as long as we travel along the lake, we better not fly at all."

Red pulled his shoulders up uneasily. "Aren't we much too slow on foot? They could catch up with us, they have horses after all."

I nodded. He had expressed my greatest concern. "I don't know which is more dangerous. To fly and hope that they won't see us, or to walk and risk our pursuers catching up with us." I sighed and plucked deep in thought some of the blades of grass to my right. "But I must say they would have to use completely incompetent idiots on the wall of Kyotawa if they didn't recognize a dragon in the sky. After all, these people do nothing else but search the surroundings for enemies during the day. And now that there are such two prominent fugitives, their attention will not have slackened. That's why I'm in favour of walking around the lake, even if it means losing our lead."

Red looked at me thoughtfully. "And the last stretch to the lake we should cover at night?"

I nodded. It seemed to me to be the best and above all the safest solution.

Red sighed. "I've almost forgotten the last few days that we're being chased. It was so peaceful here at the lake. Alone with you". He smiled at me and I could not resist and also smiled at him. "Besides, I got so used to simply shifting and spreading my wings. It became so natural", his voice became a little sad and it hurt me to see him like that.

I turned to him and laid a hand on his cheek. "Hey Red, as soon as we've left this country behind, we're free. Imagine how wonderful it will be. You never had to hide again. Neither your wings nor your beautiful smile." Immediately I received said beautiful smile.

"That sounds wonderful, Baku." he whispered. "I can hardly wait." He leaned forward and gently kissed me.

For a while we sat silently next to each other, each lost in his own thoughts, but then Red cleared his throat. "Say, when we're going to be on foot, don't you think you should show me how I am going to handle the twin blades?"

I grinned, stood up and offered him my hand. He took it immediately and let me pull him up. I briefly looked around to see if we had enough room, but we stood on the shore, a little away from our actual camp. That shouldn't be a problem.

"Draw your swords." I commanded calmly. Red did as he was told, reached behind him and drew both blades. A little insecure he held them before him. I walked towards him, stood next to him and corrected his hand posture. "Let it loosen a little," I added when he correctly grasped the handles. "If you hold them too tight, you'll get too stiff in your wrist." Red nodded and loosened his firm grip a little.

"I'll first show you some basic techniques of blocking and attacking and how to gain an advantage with two swords," I explained.

Kirishima's PoV

I had to admit, I was a little excited. Swordsmanship had always been something I admired and learning from such a talented swordsman as Bakugou was an opportunity I could never have dreamed of.

However, I had to admit that I didn't concentrate very much when the dragonslayer stood behind me and grabbed my wrists to show me some basic techniques. He explained in calmness what he was doing. But his deep voice at my ear gave me goose bumps and didn't exactly make me focus on his teaching.

Bakugou seemed to notice that, at least he stopped and sighed. "Concentrate." he breathed into my ear.

I giggled. "Easier said than done when you're right behind me."

Bakugou kissed my neck and I sighed as I lowered the swords and enjoyed the feeling of his lips gently stroking my sensitive skin. "I think..." he whispered and began to nibble at my ear, "That way it won't lead to anything. Maybe..."

He took a few steps back and I turned around, surprised by his sudden retreat. The dragonslayer's eyes only sparkled dangerously and he had drawn his sword. "Maybe, you're more of a guy for the practical method," he said calmly.

I hardly had time to raise my swords to block his attack. I made a frightened sound when his iridescent sword hit my blades with force. Damn he was strong! And fast, as I noticed immediately after, when he let his weapon dash to my side.

For a while, I parried his massive attacks. Bakugou only played with me, I never had the chance to attack myself.

When he finally let go of me, my arms trembled and the sweat stuck on my forehead. "Damn," I gasped as I let myself sink into the grass. "I really have no chance against you."

Bakugou laughed. "What did you expect? But don't be too hard on yourself, you're doing fine. Soon you will have no problem defending yourself against most of the people." He sat next to me and bent over to me.

"Are you sure?" I asked and looked into his red eyes.

"Absolutely." he answers, overcoming the last few centimeters and kissing me.