Chapter Five

*A Week Later*

-Bakugou's POV-

I was helping to get the last few things up, we'd gotten everything ready faster than we thought we could. Meaning that the wedding had been moved to tomorrow, which meant that I'd have to see the redhead again so soon. I'd been avoiding him since my father got home, always finding something to do so that I didn't have to speak with him. The bruises on my arms were nearly gone, which was a good thing because my old man always looked furious when he saw them.

"Kacchan, are you ready to get married tomorrow?" Deku asked, making me hit him with a big leaf that we were laying out on the stones.

"Shut up Deku. I don't want to talk about it." I grumbled, seeing him sigh.

"You can't avoid him forever Kacchan, you know that." he stated, not getting an answer as I put the last few leaves in place.

Once they were down we carefully pinned them down using small bone pins. It wasn't perfect, but it would work to hold the many plates of food that the wives were making. The Sira's had helped a lot while clearing out this place, making it easy to set everything in its place. All that was left now was for the actual events to start. The day before the wedding he and I have to go get a flower from the single bush that it grew on down in the crevice nearby.

The flower itself doesn't do anything important, it's just a ceremony to show we can trust each other and can work together. After that is the ceremony of binding, making us officially together as one, followed by the feast. Afterwards we'd be led to the consummation hut and left there for a day or two. When we leave there I'll have to leave with him, officially being his husband meaning we wouldn't be able to stay here.

Tonight would be my last night here, meaning I had a lot of packing to do. I figured if I started right when I got back I'd still be able to get some good sleep in before things started. I would definitely be needing it if I was gonna get through the day standing next to that idiot. I started off back home, having made sure the leaves wouldn't blow away while no one was here. I couldn't wait to get back to my hut, get some much needed and desired sleep.

-Time Skip: The next morning-

I was woken up by the sound of Deku opening my hut door. I knew it was Deku because other than Eri and the redhead, he and I were the only ones who knew about this place. It had been used as a playhouse by him and I until his father died fighting and he had to care for Auntie Inko. He was at least kind enough to close the door and light a few candles before speaking.

"Kacchan, it's time to get you ready. Come on, everyones gonna be waiting soon." he said quietly, probably knowing I was awake.

With a sigh I got out of my hammock, taking the clothes from him as he pulled a curtain across the room to give me privacy. In the Folia tribe it was known that the more skin you showed, the less likely you were to make it to a peaceful afterlife. Body paint did also count as covering so it wasn't too unbearable. I noticed that when we had picked out my attire it leaned more towards the Sira's more revealing style rather than the more familiar Folia style.

I put on the comparably skimpy outfit, only being a short skirt-like thing and a few pieces of jewelry that wrapped around my torso. I carefully attached the belt that had the stone my father had given me on it. I put on my usual sandals, tying them up properly for the first time ever. I put a layer of gold paint over the bruises on my arms, making sure that they wouldn't be the first things seen on me. When I was finally ready I put on the small gold chain with a green leaf on one side, the official accessory for the heir of the Folia tribe. I'd probably have to leave it here, seeing as they'd have to have an heir here or the tribe wouldn't make it.

"I'm ready Deku, let's get this day over with." I grumbled, leaving the space behind the curtain.

"You know Kacchan, it may not be as bad as you think. Your mother wouldn't send you to someone who would hurt you." he stated, a nervous smile on his stupid face.

"He already hurt me, but I have to do this for our people. Just make sure before him and I leave that none of my stuff is left behind." I grumbled, walking outside followed by the nerd.

We walked to the crevice, the officials and the redhead already there. I didn't say anything as I stood next to him, wanting nothing but to go back to my hut. I could tell that the old man and my old hag were upset with him, I can't say I blame them. Finally after much talking in a circle, the elders formed a half circle in front of us.

"Katsuki Bakugou of the Folia tribe, Eijirou Kirishima of the Sira tribe, do you take on the challenge of partnership to retrieve the fire blossom from the hidden cavern?" the oldest one asked, a stern look on all of their faces.

"We do." I answered, not looking away from the elders.

"Then go forth as a pair and bring back the flower that glows orange like fire." he stated, all of them parting to let us down the steep stairway into the crevice.

I headed towards the stairs, hearing the idiot behind me. Hesitating slightly I started down the nearly ladder like stairs. From the stories that the woman of the settlement told this was the hardest part, seeing as one slip-up and you could tumble all the way to the bottom. A very fast and unpleasant trip if you ask me. Of course being small helped, because you could lean on the wall on each small ledge to keep away from the edges.

-Time Skip: Ten minutes later-

We were nearly at the cavern entrance when we stopped on a slightly larger ledge to take a break. Panting lightly I leaned against the wall to rest a bit, the idiot doing the same. Peeking down over the edge of our perch I could see the entrance from here.

"Katsuki? Is something the matter?" Kirishima asked, watching me.

"You really are dense. Just focus on the task at hand, if you're distracted you'll fall." I grumbled at him, looking at him for the first time today.

He looked perfect, nearly everything on display for me with just a cloth around his waist and a sash of some kind 'covering' his chest. The poor thing was barely as wide as my arm, covering nearly nothing. He had on basic sandals that were practical for every occasion. His hair had been tied up with some black ribbon with the Sira tribes symbol. Upon a distant glance you'd think he was absolutely perfect, but from where I stood I could tell he had barely slept and something was bothering him.

With a huff I started to climb downwards again, Kirishima following once again. Climbing was starting to get even harder, even for someone my size so I had to focus on the different steps. They were no longer a uniform shape or size, some even having cracks in them. I jumped down over a broken off step, freezing when I heard a loud crackling sound underfoot. Kirishima had stopped as well, now watching me carefully.

"Katsuki, slowly come here." he stated calmly.

I went to turn so I could move towards him easier, flinching slightly at the loud crackling that followed. I could barely keep from shaking as I took a step towards Kirishima, the crackling following my movements. I was almost an arm's length away when I heard an especially loud crack, looking down to find a breaking pattern right under my foot.

-Kirishima's POV-

He was standing on a stone known for being extremely brittle, it was all over the steps down here. I'm shocked no one had died doing this, it's a ceremony with understandable traits, but too dangerous for the future generations. Katsuki was slowly walking towards me from the ledge he jumped to, the cracking and grinding of the stone making him tremble. When he was almost to my outstretched arm he stopped and looked down. Under his foot was a break pattern, that ground wouldn't hold up long. He needs to move closer, why won't he move. The cracks are growing so why doesn't he move forwards.

"Katsuki, carefully move forwards. I won't let you fall." I whispered to him, knowing talking would cause too much vibration down here.

"I-it's gonna b-break if I m-move." he replied, voice shaking worse than he was.

"Then jump and grab my hand, the floor won't hold for much longer you'll have to choose." I stated, a sharp cracking sound proving my point more.

He hesitated for a moment, looking up at me after a moment or two. I could tell he was scared so I tried to give him a reassuring smile, inching my hand forwards just a bit. He closed his eyes and let out a breath I didn't know he was holding and quickly shifted forwards and grabbed my hand. I held on tight as the rocks below him gave way.

He clung to my arm as I carefully pulled him up to the step I was on. He was still shaking a bit so I wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close. He was staring at the spot he had been standing mere moments before, a fearful look in his eyes.

"Katsuki, it's ok. You're safe now, let's find another way down ok?" I asked, trying to draw his attention to something else.

We climbed across a more hidden path and rested in an alcove that was in the wall. Katsuki was much calmer now, but was still clearly shaken up from the incident. I can't really blame him, as someone who was born and raised in the mountains these accidents were quite common. It was a sad thing that would sometimes lead to the death of either one member or whole families.

"Do you want to continue? The cavern entrance isn't much further." I stated, looking over the edge.

"Do we have to go further? One of us is bound to get hurt or worse, what do we do then? They won't be worried and looking for us for almost a whole nother day." he replied.

"*sigh* Katsuki, I won't let anything happen to you. This is a challenge of trust, remember, we have to trust each other to reach the end." I stated comfortingly, giving him a soft smile.

"Let's get going then, we don't want to be late." he replied, standing up.

Carefully moving out onto the steps again we continued down until we reached the last ledge and entrance to the cavern. I heard Katsuki sigh before taking the lead and walking forwards. There were various different crystals and the occasional bush with different colored flowers. I couldn't tell which one we were here for so I followed Katsuki around as we looked at each flower. I noticed a small hole that a person smaller than me could fit inside of.

"Hey Kat, come look in here." I stated, wandering over to the hole.

"What is it?" he asked, walking over with me.

"It looks like a small tunnel." I answered, crouching down to look inside it.

At the very back of the small crawl space was a bush with a bright orange and red flower. I backed up when Katsuki pushed my shoulder a bit, watching him look down the tunnel as well. A look of recognition flashed across his features before he sat up quickly.

"That's it, I'll grab it and we can get out of here." he stated, already crawling in after it.

"Katsuki, be careful. This seems too easy." I called after him, getting something mumbled back at me.

As he grabbed the flower and yanked it off the bush I could hear a rumbling sound. He was on his way out when I finally figured out what the sound was. It was a ton of rocks that had slid down an incline ahead of us, moving as fast as possible, I rolled a few big rocks into the path of the slide. Leaning against them to support the makeshift wall I yelled to Katsuki.

"Katsuki, hurry, there's a rockslide!" I yelled, hearing a quiet 'shit' before the rocks hit.