The Shadow Kingdom

The Prophecy

Shoto was shaken to his core both physically and emotionally. He didn't know how much more he could take with everything that was going on, but Bakugo's blatant ego and taunts where Izumi was concerned were rubbing him raw.

"Izumi are you alright?" Shoto finally spoke after calming himself.

"Yes," Izumi sniffed and wiped tears away as she pulled back from Bakugo to smile at him. "I'm okay...but I need to check on the baby. Dabi..." she looked to Touya who grunted in response.

"Yeah, yeah Mister do your thing." He waved Compress ahead. The masked gentleman approached waving out his hands.

"Nothing up my sleeves..." He lay his fingers over Izumi's wrists and the magic concealment cuffs come off with a snap. "Voila!"

Izumi's golden aura appeared and she smiled gratefully. Using the enter hype she searched for the baby in her womb and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes we're both fine...though if we can avoid anymore conflict like that for awhile I'd be grateful." She offered a smile and helped eased the tension in Shoto's shoulders. Her eyes started scanning the ground and she quickly picked up her satchel and admired the torn strap and then the contents to make sure nothing was missing or damaged.

"Speaking of baby..." Bakugo turned her back around. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were pregnant? You sent a letter to Inko, but don't you think the father deserves to know?"

"Kacchan I..." she pointed her fingers together. "You said you didn't want me in your life anymore. I was scared you'd just toss me out on my ear again. Especially when there's a chance that-"

The dragon roared overhead temperamentally. Irritated at having not received his prey, it circled over the group ready for another pass.

"Stubborn beast..." Dabi grunted. "Oi, we need to move into covered area before that thing decides to take another swipe at us."

"Let it come," Bakugo said boldly pulling Izumi behind him and cracking his knuckles. "I'll take it on."

"Baka!" Izumi grabbed his shoulder. "Don't be stupid." She pulled on him. "Lets just go. The league of Mercenaries are bound to find out I've gone missing. We should make tracks while we have the advantage."

"Izumi and our new friends are right, Bakugo. You can play with it another time." Toshinori motioned Iida and the girls to move and ran with them. "Let's move!"

"Let him play, he can take care of himself." Shoto picked Izumi up Princess style and ran with her.

"Shoto we can't just..." She hooked her arms around him looking over his shoulder at Bakugo who stayed and was flanked by his men. "Kacchan!"

"I wouldn't worry about him, Izumi." Shinso told her with a confident smile. "That guy's too arrogant to let that dragon kill him. His head is harder than that dragon's hide."

"Yeah, but..." She turned her head over to Shinso, even as they ran he seemed to just be filled with calm tenacity which was reassuring. Sighing heavily she clung tighter to Shoto and buried her face in his neck. "Alright."

They reached the main road, the women already on the wagon with Dabi and the others climbing aboard the back. Toshinori and Gran Torino steadied their horses, resaddling them for the trip.

"Let's make tracks." Dabi ordered to the girls. "Faster we get out of here, the better."

"Excuse me, but who are you guys, again?" Shoto set down Izumi and narrowed his eyes on Dabi and his motley crew.

"It's okay, Shoto." Izumi pat his shoulder trying to soothe the tensions. "They're allies, they helped me escape."

"I get that... but why?" His mare nosed his shoulder and he took the reigns patting her comfortingly.