[Art cr: kito0004 on Twitter]

The next time they met, Kirishima had arranged a meeting with the wolf early in the morning. It was a day where there was a remarkable lack of clouds while the sun was greeting the town with friendly beams. "Katsuki! Ma wants me to go to the town today to buy food. Hopefully, meat is on sale. Do you want to come?"

"Hell no."

"Why not!?"

"They'll just run away as soon as they catch sight of me." Kirishima frowned. But he understood Bakugou's mindset. For over a year he had heard about the 'big, bad wolf' that lurked in the forest and would attack if they smelled fear, but the reality could not have been anymore different. The human suspected that the callous mistreatment of the villagers themselves added to Bakugou's defensive mindset.

"But I like spending time with you, and I might not to visit you at our usual time later since I don't need to visit my grandma." The wolf's furrowed brows softened slightly, but he kept his arms crossed, refusing to look up because he knew damn well that the human would have that sad look on his face that he hated. "C'mon, if anyone tries to pick on you, I'll give them a piece of my mind!"

"Idiot! I don't need someone coming to my rescue. I could kick the asses of everyone in that damn town with my pinky." He raised the mentioned finger to emphasise his point. "I just..." he let out a sigh, "I can handle what they think about me, but you don't want to get a bad reputation for letting me be close to you."

"Oh, I see. You're worried about me." Bakugou was determined to argue against that fact, but upon reiterating his previous statement in his mind, he realised that he did in fact want to look out for him. It was a little difficult to come to terms with it though.

"So what if I don't want you to become some sort of social pariah?"

Kirishima grinned, "Wow, that's a big word."

"Shut up." Bakugou buried his face with his hands and shook his head, but the human gently pulled his hands away from his face.

"Sorry for teasing," he still had a warm smile on his face, "but join me? Please?" Badump.

"But then you'll be ostracized."

"I thought a lot after that day I showed up in a skirt. Honestly? I couldn't care less what the others think about me if it's just because I spend time with you. I realised that it wouldn't be very manly of me if I let other people's thoughts control my actions." He declared, "You taught me that being different does not mean you should stop being yourself. Katsuki, you inspire me and I won't let myself be scared to be seen with you! That wouldn't be very manly." In one courageous swoop, Kirishima took the boy's hand in his, and began walking off pointing to the distance as if he were going to show Bakugou the whole world.

Wrong story, Little Red.

For some reason, despite at first being disturbed by the sudden move, Bakugou did not feel like pulling away. As he watched the ball of enthusiasm in front of him leading the way, his lips curled into a small smile and he tightened his grip on the boy without another word as his tail continued to flicker from side to side.

As the wolf had predicted, the moment any human caught sight of Bakugou 'looming' behind Kirishima, they would quickly dart to the sides, or 'subtly' push their children back into their homes.

"See? I told you they would..." Bakugou would begin to grumble only to be quickly shut down when Kirishima would turn around and repeat the same thing over and over again.

"I don't care. You're worth more than some other people's fear!" The wolf shook his head as his eyes trailed back down to their hands joined together. He found himself thinking that surely this kind of treatment was not normal.

"But do you have to... do this?" He questioned, making Kirishima raise an eyebrow. "I'm not a little kid... it's embarrassing." Bakugou hated the way his heart immediately sank when a disappointed look etched itself onto the human's face.

"Does it embarrass you to walk around holding my hand?"

"Well, yeah... maybe. Never mind. Just stop looking at me like that! If you're not gonna care about what people think then I won't either!" He suddenly yelled and made some bold strides with an even tighter grip on Kirishima's hand. However, his immediate shout managed to make even more people run for their lives in case the wolf had gotten in the mood for a few live snacks.

"I have no idea what they're so scared of..." Kirishima mumbled, but went to a stall anyway, "hey Mister!"

The vendor turned around, having recognised Kirishima's voice before his face fell into a grim expression when he saw the canine alongside him, "Oh... Kiri. Who's your friend here?" He asked, doing his best to preserve his smile under Bakugou's steely gaze. In reality, the wolf hadn't been able to get this close to the shops before, so was looking at all the things in front of him, including the shopkeeper as if trying to take photographs with his eyes. In this case, the shopkeeper specialised in fruit and vegetable produce.

As their conversation continued, the wolf simply began to zone out and think, 'This isn't meat...'

"His name's Bakugou!" Kirishima beamed, "I just need a few bunches of garlic and onions. Possibly fruit too. Ma's running out of cooking ingredients." He looked around the baskets of different produce, then held up two different bunches of garlic and observing them closely, his eyebrows knitted together. After a small pause, he perked up and drew Bakugou out of his observation, "Hey, you've got a good nose, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Smell this! Which one smells better?" Bakugou looked less than pleased by the task he was given, but his sour expression didn't stop Kirishima from holding one bunch of garlic to his nose.

"It stinks."

"Alright then how about this one?"

"It also stinks."

"Katsuki!"

"What the fuck do you want me to say? They both stink and hurt my eyes." Bakugou raised his voice and made the shopkeeper flinch before ducking behind his stall.

"Mister?" The human quickly showed concern, while Bakugou took a peek behind the stall.

"P-Please! Don't hurt me! I have a w-wife, and kids!"

"Mister he's not like that!" Kirishima defended, putting a hand atop Bakugou's fluffy spikes, "I know he can make some scary expressions, but he really would not hurt humans unless they did something to him in the first place. He doesn't exactly have a taste for human meat after all." Bakugou nodded in agreement, but the shopkeeper was still a mess of jitters.

Kirishima scratched the back of his head. His main dilemma was how to show other people the wolf was a total sweetheart. Perhaps not in those exact words. Then people would think he was actually crazy. Perhaps it was better to let the humans slowly get used to the wolf's presence, then slowly but surely, they would come to appreciate his true self, right?

When the shopkeeper finally calmed down and stood back up, Kirishima was in the middle of making Bakugou smell a whole bunch of produce. The wolf showed annoyance, but on a peculiar note still complied with the human.

"Acidic. Stinks. No. Smells like a pepper." His replies were less than eager, but it didn't hinder the redhead's excited smile. After a while, Kirishima managed to pick out the produce he needed, and the shopkeeper packed them up before handing it to him and bidding goodbye with a shaky smile. The man let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding once their backs were turned, but tilted his head as he watched Kirishima stretch an open hand to the wolf with grabby motions, before the wolf shook his head and slipped his hand into the open space.

"Next stop- meat!" Kirishima cheered, the wolf's tail wagging when it was mentioned.

~*~*~

After their day of exploring the different stalls and meeting new people, Little Red Riot Hood returned home.

"Ma! I bought the groceries!" He grinned and put the bags on the table. His mother began to put away the groceries but noticed the fact that her son was radiating more happiness than usual.

"Did something nice happen today?"

"I went shopping with a friend of mine." Kirishima grinned.

"Oh, a little date in the town?"

Immediately, Kirishima spluttered, "Ma! It wasn't like that."

"Sure it wasn't. Who was your 'friend' then? Boy or girl?"

Kirishima scratched the back of his head, averting his gaze for a moment, "A boy... his name is Bakugou."

"Aw, cute! As in 'explosion'?"

"Sure..."

"Perhaps that makes him boisterous and energetic. I'm not too surprised you would manage to make friends with him then. You two sound good together, just don't get yourselves into too much mischief, okay?" His mother said with a teasing tone.

"What do you mean 'good together'? I told you, we're not-"

"I meant as friends." While his mother was not-so-subtly giggling to herself, Kirishima was reduced to a mess of grumbles and mumbles as he went back to his room. He went to his window and looked at the sunset, thinking about his wolf companion with a wandering gaze.

~*~*~

Unfortunately, not all of the townspeople were very understanding of Kirishima's new 'friend'. The more the fear spread, the quicker gossip circled around the townspeople, to the point in which even Kirishima's mother heard these rumours. Of course, at first, she did not believe he was actually frolicking around with a werewolf. She thought – or hoped – that it was just a nickname.

It may not have been the best demonstration of trust, but on her son's next trip, she decided to trail behind... just to make sure he was safe. At least, that was what she had convinced herself.

She waited a few moments after bidding her son goodbye with a kiss on the forehead, before getting a cloak and quietly following his route. Everything went smoothly at first, Kirishima's mother just watching her sweet son enjoy the sights and sounds of nature around him. As she snuck around the forest, she began to notice a shadowy figure doing... something similar. Except the fact that she noticed his ears (covered in light blonde hairs) pointed forward and... tail. If he ever flashed a grin, she imagined she would see a pair of deadly fangs.

'My baby!' Was her immediate thought. Even though she felt she would be too weak to fight a wolf (as young as he looked), she was still prepared to jump in and pry the creature away from Kirishima if he ever dared to attack.

However, the attack was yet to come as she watched her son enter the grandma's home, hearing a small sample of his cheerful greeting before the door closed behind him swiftly. To her surprise, the young wolf sat down by a nearby tree, but she did not peel her eyes away until later on, when her son bid goodbye to his grandma. It was a fairly quick visit, and she looked up to the sky to check that it was still daytime, 'Were his visits always finished this early? I always thought he just liked spending time with her...'

At least, that was what she assumed as Kirishima always seemed to return at sunset when he would visit her. At the same time, she noticed the wolf perk up and return to his original position. His tail wagged ever so slightly, and it was enough for her to feel the need to suppress a giggle. Then Kirishima approached the wolf with a grin.

"Hey Katsuki! Didn't keep you waiting for too long, right? Y'know, Nana wouldn't mind letting you come in for some food as well..."

"Shut up Shitty Hair, I'm fine... you don't need to worry about that." The wolf stiffly replied, "Let's go already."

"Impatient as ever." Kirishima teased, then walked alongside the wolf, the two trading various bouts of banter as they approached a sparse area of the forest.

The two males stood on each side of the area, as if creating an invisible ring around themselves. Then, Kirishima's mother held her heart as she witnessed some sort of deadly brawl between the two as their punches clashed with electrifyingly tense chemistry. It was horrifying to watch her son take so many jabs to his body yet stay unmoving for the most part.

Before things could go any further, she sprinted in, "Kirishima Eijirou!" She watched as her son flinched when he heard his full name; meanwhile the wolf stood still, eyes widened slightly as he looked at her. She wasn't sure if he was scared, surprised, or annoyed.

But right now, her main priority was protecting her son. "What is this? What's going on? Why are you letting this... creature hurt you?" She was too wrapped up in her anger to notice the way the wolf silently recoiled and averted his annoyed gaze. Kirishima wanted to reach out, and even began to, but was stopped short by a hand wrapping around his wrist. Before he knew it, he was being dragged away from one of his closest friends.

The walk home was silent, and it felt even longer than when the redhead would walk home by himself.

"You are not allowed to associate yourself with that... thing anymore."

"He's not just a thing, Ma! He's my friend! A really good one at that!"

"What kind of friend... does this to you?" She pointed out the scratches and marks, "Is he the reason why you would come home with these injuries?"

"They're not even that bad! It was just sparring. Ma, I can handle this."

"You shouldn't have to! From this day forward, this... 'friendship' with him is over!"

It was at that moment when Kirishima felt something snap inside of him. The volcano which lay dormant with his emotions trapped inside finally rumbled and erupted, which could shake even his mother to the core. "MA! This is just a whole misunderstanding. God, you didn't need to coddle me this much. For so many years all you did was hover around me, doting constantly! This was the first time I could be independent! It was like a breath of fresh air. You have NO idea how important Bakugou is to me!"

"Eiji, I'm just trying to protect-"

"I get it! I'm important to you, but did you ever stop to think what or who is also important to me? If you can't even look passed the dumb rumours, you're more... ignorant than I thought!"

Their storm of a rather one-sided argument ended at that moment, Kirishima evacuated to his room with the poor wooden stairs creaking under his force.