Katsuki Bakugo

Humans called our forest cursed.

We called it home.

They said that we dragons devoured anyone who crossed the trees.

They were lying.

We simply didn't let out anyone who discovered too much.

…

I saw her for the first time on a rainy night.

A small, illuminated window.

And a girl sitting on the windowsill.

She wasn't crying.

He didn't speak.

He just stared towards the forest.

Towards me.

I hid among the branches.

I knew he couldn't see me.

But I still returned the following night.

And the other one.

And the other one.

I soon understood his routine.

She lived in the old kingdom orphanage.

She was always the last to blow out the candle.

She always sat by that window before going to sleep.

It seemed…

So alone.

Its scent traveled on the wind to the forest.

Sweet.

Too sweet.

No dragon should become obsessed with the scent of a human.

I had already lost that battle.

…

The elders of my tribe warned me.

—“Forget her.”

I didn't answer.

How was I going to do it?

If every night he returned to that same window.

If only a single breath from her was enough to find her.

If he was already able to distinguish her presence among thousands of different aromas.

…

One early morning he opened the window for the first time.

The wind carried my scent to her.

He frowned slightly.

He looked directly towards the place where he was hiding.

He couldn't see me.

But he smiled.

A small smile.

As if that unknown presence were less terrifying to him than loneliness.

I felt my chest tighten.

From that night on, I stopped watching the forest.

I started watching her.

The soldiers.

The merchants.

The nobles.

I memorized the face of anyone who came too close.

Without realizing it…

I no longer protected my territory.

She was protecting a human.

And every time someone uttered the word "cursed" to refer to our forest…

I couldn't help but think that the real danger wasn't among the trees.

I was in the kingdom.

Because sooner or later…

Someone would try to snatch me