Descendants

4 years later...

“You little brat!” 

A slap, followed by a muffled cry. 

“I told you to stop stealing my bread!”

A young girl whimpers as the loaf of bread is ripped out of her hand by an angry shop owner. 

“Now get away from my shop! You look filthy!” The man barks and spits on the ground right in front of the girl’s feet. 

“Excuse me?”

The man groans at the voice and turns to see a hooded figure standing nearby. 

“What the fuck do you want, huh?”

A bright smile can be seen before the figure shakes the hood off. The man’s eyes widen as he recognizes blue hair and eyes to match. 

The young woman stomps towards him and rips the loaf of bread out of his arms. She hands it to the little girl before whirling around quickly to stare at the man. “I want you to behave.” She tells him, her voice low. 

“B-but she can’t just steal my stuff. I need to make money!” The man argues. 

Akumu sighs and rolls her eyes. “Just don’t hit kids or I’ll make sure you can use your shop’s ashes to make money.”

A high-pitched scream nearby catches her attention and she sends the man a last glare before rushing off and into a dark side alley. 

“Akumu!” Akayo gasps from above her where he’s crouching on one of the clothes lines connecting the houses. He points to the right and Akumu nods. 

She picks up her pace and rounds the next corner only to see a hunched figure standing above the lifeless body of a young woman. 

“What did you do?” Akumu barks and pushes past the figure to crouch down next to the woman to feel her heartbeat. “She’s dead…” She sighs. With all the blood surrounding her corpse, she should’ve known. 

“Do you wanna be next, doll?” The disgusting-looking man asks. Akumu just now meets his eyes. His look is crazy and his skin is covered in bruises and cuts. 

“There won’t be a next one for you.” She tells him almost softly. 

Akayo arrives at the scene only to be greeted by a wall of blue flames. He stops suddenly and sighs as he waits. 

About a minute later, Akumu steps through the flames, her head low. 

“Another one, huh?” Akayo asks carefully. 

Akumu glances at him briefly as she walks past. “Yeah. An innocent person dead and her murderer executed.” She groans and runs a hand down her face. “What’s happening to the people? They’re all crazy lately.”

Akayo blinks up at her innocently and shows his sharp fangs, looking a bit insane himself. “Are you saying we’re different?” He laughs. “Aku, I know you really want to make this town a better place but you can’t do that if it’s the whole place that’s rotten.”

She leans back against a moldy wall and groans up at the sky. “Then what am I supposed to do? What’s my purpose in this shithole?”

“Hey, people know you! They’re scared of you!”

“Clearly not everyone.” She mumbles with a glance at the flames. “Also, I can’t be everywhere.”

“Looks like you’re doing a pretty good job though.” A third voice chimes in and both Akumu and Akayo jump in shock. 

Soon, a boy about Akayo’s age jumps off the roof and lands next to them. He smiles as he slowly gets to his feet. He’s dressed in black, like most of them but his clothes look way too big on him, like he didn’t find anything his size. His dark brown hair and blue eyes make his light skin look almost white. He looks from Akayo to Akumu and grins, quickly holding out his right hand. 

“Name’s Keitaro. Huge fan.”

Akumu narrows his eyes. “Who are you?”

Keitaro keeps smiling as he drops his hand again. “I’ve been watching you to find out what your intentions are and I’m pretty sure you’re not one of those psychopaths.” He explains quickly. “Sorry, but considering who your parents are…”

“I get it.” She hisses with narrowed eyes. “So what do you want?”

“I want to help and maybe not be as lonely anymore?” Keitaro asks hopefully. “You know this town can be hell. Especially if you’re not used to it.”

Akayo gasps and jumps forward to grab Keitaro by the shoulders, observing him. “You’re an outsider?”

“Uh…” Keitaro blinks at him in confusion. “If that means that I’m not originally from this town, then yes.”

“But why? Why would you come here voluntarily?”

“I...I ran away and now I’m here and…don’t know where else to go anymore.”

Akayo gasps again and turns his head to look up at Akumu. “Can we keep him?”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s not a dog.”

“Please! Aku!”

She turns away and waves her hand through the air. “Do whatever you want.”

Akayo beams and wraps his arms around Keitaro briefly before pulling him along. “Oh! I’m so happy! We found a new friend!”

Keitaro chuckles nervously and watches Akumu’s back as she leads them through the alleyways. He takes in everything about her and grins. 

~ ~ ~

Katsuki takes a sip of their equivalent of coffee while Eijirou is pretty much ripping apart a barely cooked piece of meat as they’re sitting around a small fireplace near their cave.

The morning has been quiet so far, which is a miracle considering Kazumi is around. The last four years, she spent more and more time in Yuuei, going as far as staying there for months at a time to be with her boyfriend. 

Today marks her last day in the village after being back for three months. 

“Morning” Denki mumbles as he joins his friends with a yawn. He rubs his temples and looks around tiredly. “The kids are leaving today, right?”

Eijirou nods slowly while staring at the ground. “Yep...there’s a ball or something…”

“It’s an old Todoroki family tradition, I think.” Hitoshi explains quietly as he plops down next to his mate. 

“Oh, that’s cool.” Denki says.

“Are you guys fucking kidding me?!” Katsuki suddenly barks as he glares at them. “Don’t sit here and pretend like it’s nothing special. That burning shithead is probably going to propose to my daughter!”

Denki flinches and looks away. “And you...think that’s...good?”

“What?! No! That’s absolutely horrible!”

“Have you talked to her about it? She keeps mentioning it, right?” Hitoshi asks. 

“She’s old enough and we’ve had quite a few talks about me being a control freak and her wanting to make her own decisions…”

“But this is different.” Eijirou tells him softly. “We’re talking about the fact that Takeo might propose to her tonight. Like...marriage....” He crosses his arms, not looking too content himself with the news. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

“There’s always the option that she’s just overreacting and interpreting things wrong?” Denki offers hesitantly. “Kazu can be a bit...well…”

“Naive?” Katsuki asks. “Yes”

“She’s dead-set on being Queen one day.” Eijirou mumbles. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. She talks about Takeo a lot. It’s disgustingly cute but...sometimes I’m worried she might not have the right intentions.”

Denki sighs and nods. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“Guys, be quiet. Here she comes.” Hitoshi tells them quickly. 

“Good morning!” The way too happy voice of the tribe’s princess greets them. “Isn’t it a wonderful day?” She asks, her smile stretching her face. 

Her long unruly hair is pulled up into a tight ponytail, her fringe framing her face perfectly. She’s wearing the usual tribe attire. Dark leather pants and a short top made of red scales. On top of it all, a dark red cape with grey fur around the neck her grandmother gave to her on her 18th birthday.

“Ready for your big day?” Denki asks her with a small smile. 

“So ready!” She gasps, her fists balled in front of her chest. 

“How do you even fucking know he will propose to you?” Katsuki asks. “He never told you, right?”

Kazumi drops her arms and glares at him. “He told me that we were special and that he needed a few months alone.” She says proudly. “He’s obviously preparing something.”

Eijirou frowns at that and locks eyes with his mate. “Honey, are you sure…”

“I don’t want to have this conversation again.” She interrupts quickly and starts looking around. “Also, I don’t have much time. Where’s Rai?”

Eijirou leans closer to Katsuki. “Maybe we should go with them after all.”

“She’s old enough to make her own mistakes.” The King mumbles. “But I can’t watch her do it.”

“But...what if…”

“Then we’ll catch her after the fall.”

“Rai! There you are! Come on!” Kazumi interrupts their quiet conversation with her squealing as Raidon slowly emerges from the small cave he calls his own. 

He takes in the worried looks of their parents behind her and sighs as he approaches. 

While Kazumi didn’t change too much in the last few years, Raidon pretty much went through a whole transformation. 

He lost his slightly chubby cheeks, making way for a sharp jawline and cheekbones. His skin is as pale as ever, no matter how much time he spends in the sun. It doesn’t help that his hair got darker with the years, appearing almost black except for when the sun hits it. 

Raidon also went through a growth spurt. Kazumi isn’t small, she’s even a bit taller than Katsuki but Raidon is half a head taller which happened within a few months, surprising all of them. 

And his human form isn’t the only one that got bigger. In his dragon form, he even towers over Shinsou and Tetsutetsu. To say that he’s a bit smug about it, is an understatement. 

“You know I want to get there early!” Kazumi argues as Raidon steps up to her. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll be there in no time.” He tells her with a small smile. 

“When was the last time you flew with Rai?” Denki asks with his mouth full after taking a bite of his breakfast. 

“Uh…” Kazumi blinks down at him. “I don’t know. Papa usually flies me around.”

Kirishima rests his chin in the palm in his hand and nods once as he watches the two young adults. 

“It’ll take around an hour to get to Yuuei.” Raidon says with a shrug. 

Kazumi whirls around and frowns up at him. “What? It usually takes us more than two hours.”

“Maybe with wings as small as Eiji’s!” Denki giggles, earning a glare from Katsuki and eyeroll from Hitoshi. 

“What?” She asks dumbly. 

“Anyway!” Raidon smiles and claps his hands together. “I guess I’ll be back in a few days. Might pay the grandpa’s a visit.” 

Denki smiles up at him. “Aw, I bet they’d love seeing you!” He looks up at his mate. “I want to visit them too!”

“You just want to squeal over your son with Pa.” Hitoshi mumbles but wraps an arm around Denki. 

Suddenly, Eijirou jumps to his feet and waves Raidon over. “Rai, a word? I know you never flew to Yuuei on your own so I want to make sure you know the way.”

Raidon frowns but at the redhead’s pleading gaze he nods and lets the other shifter pulls him away from the others. 

“Uh, sorry but I’m pretty sure I know the way.” Raidon says nervously. 

“That’s not what I wanna talk about, kid.” Eijirou sighs. “I want you to keep an eye on Kazu. I’m really not sure about this whole...marriage thing and I doubt it will work out the way she imagines.”

Raidon’s gaze falls and his features harden. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“If something happens, and I really don’t wish for it, but if Takeo ends up breaking her heart, bring her home. Please.”

“I will.” Raidon says quickly and smiles sadly at Eijirou. “I would’ve done so anyway.”

Eijirou mimics his sad smile and pats his shoulder. “Thank you”

A loud groan interrupts them and when they look up it’s in time to see Kazumi roll her eyes as she’s turning away from Katsuki. 

“I don’t wanna hear it again!” She huffs. 

“Oh, but I think you need to hear it again, brat!” Katsuki barks. “It’s a shitty idea and I don’t like it one bit! You’re eighteen years old! Marriage is for old fucks!”

“Like you? You’re not married!”

“I’m mated, you little shit!”

“So? That’s not the same! I’m going, no matter what you say!”

“Oh, I know I can’t stop you. That won’t stop me from hating that little bastard’s guts!”

“Are you talking about Takeo?”

“Of course! That burned little…”

“Could you not call my boyfriend names?”

Hitoshi raises his arm. “Also, he’s not a bastard.” Both blondes glare at him so he drops his arm again and quickly looks away. “I mean...technically.” He mumbles. “They were married, so…”

Denki sends him a stern look, finally forcing him to shut up. 

Eijirou sighs and nods at Raidon, who quickly makes his way over to his best friend. “I think we should get going.” He announces and steps between Kazumi and her father. 

“You!” Katsuki barks, pointing up at Raidon. “You better tell that flame-wielding excuse for a Prince that I’ll come to fucking kill him if he hurts my little girl!”

“Gladly, but I’ll deliver it together with my own threats that he has to listen to every time I see him.”

Katsuki seems taken aback at the pure dislike in the young man’s voice but then he smirks and sits back down. “Sounds good to me.”

Raidon smiles at him before whirling around to face a pouting Kazumi. “Ready?”

She looks away but nods.