Chapter Text
When Katsuki was four and three quarters, he was playing outside in his parents’ front yard, when a sudden violent wind swooped him right up into the air and he landed stuck in a tree, his face in the leaves and only his feet sticking out. He’d been saved by a group of kindly tree nymphs, or, well, the irritated nymph whose tree it had been and her friends. They stuck him upright on the ground before angrily going to search for the wind spirits who had been playing around the breeze, and he was left there, disorientated, and lost.
Home was only a few yards in the right direction, but him being not yet even five, he had no idea which direction was the right direction. So being the resourceful child he was, he tried to look for more nice spirits.
Only he had no idea how to do that. So after hours and hours of desperate knocking on tree trunks and climbing them, then trying to get stuck in them on purpose, he sat himself down in a field of wild chicories and awaited his fate.
That’s how Katsuki feels right now, the world outside, the woods, completely silent as he engages in a war inside his own heart, desperately trying to hold onto any leads that’ll give him a solution. A way out.
One that doesn’t involve giving up and simply putting them out of their misery and letting them suffer any longer. His beloved canines, Murder God, Explosion Lord, and Ground Zero. They’ve been sick for days now, although it started off small. At first they just had no appetite, and were a little more drowsy than usual, but it progressed quickly, to throwing up despite having barely eaten anything, fevers and terrifyingly hot skin, strangely light-coloured gums, and constantly hunched posture like they’re trying to keep their stomachs down twenty-four seven.
The village healer, an annoying ass motherfucker by the name of Shouto, told him it was no use trying to cure them, that it would be much kinder to let him just give them some yew or something similar and let the poisonous berries do their thing. He’d said that the death would be quick, and in their state, they would barely feel it. The other villagers, including one of his least disliked, Eijirou, had agreed, telling Katsuki he should just hurry up and do it before they got too sick to even open their mouths. His mother would say the same thing. Removing the arrowhead will hurt less if you take it out faster.
But he just can’t. He can’t bring himself to do it. He’s a social pariah, and even though it’s mostly by choice, he can’t just remove his main tethers to the world outside him. They’re his reminders that he’s a human being, that he does have a lot of affection in his heart, that he’s really not as aggressive and awful and difficult to befriend as he always seems to automatically become when he’s around other people.
They love him, and the only requirement of their love is that he loves them back.
Dogs are just… So much easier than humans.
So here Katsuki is, in front of the absolutely gargantuan toadstool, ahead of the large patch of wild strawberries he’d never bothered to go further than, believing there to be nothing but dense forest afterwards.
Beside him, the dark green-haired pond nymph does whatever hocus pocus he made her the chocolate pudding for, crouched on the ground and making some funny little shapes on the ground with puddles of water. He’s beginning to think he’s actually fucking insane, but it’s also unmistakable that there are windows in the the mushroom stem and the cap as well, and also a front fucking door.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just knock. If she’s not home, why don’t I just come back another time? I know where she lives now.” Katsuki says slowly. He doesn’t have a lot of experience dealing with magical creatures, like most of the village, but he’s starting to wish he could’ve just been happy with that fact and just kept on doing what he’s been doing.
The nymph doesn’t look up, but she thankfully doesn’t ignore him. Her tense shoulders look very much like she wants to, but she seems to be very kind-hearted. For what reason, Katsuki can’t fathom, but he thinks back to most of the magical beings he’s encountered, and it’s true that he’s never met one with evil tendencies. He supposes that might be why they’ve been blessed with magical powers, a reward for their purity of self. And that would certainly explain why most humans are so awful.
“It’s dangerous to knock on a witch’s door directly.” The nymph replies absent-mindedly, continuing on with her balderdash, now making a little mound of dirt. She whispers something to the dirt, and before Katsuki’s very eyes, a fucking flower starts growing. Not any flower, it’s a fucking pink peony. He’s pretty sure they’re not supposed to grow like that, but what the fuck, he’s not about to question the being who could very well drop a whole pond on him if she wanted to.
Suddenly the lights behind the windows all switch off at the exact same time, and the nymph straightens up, although it’s not that impressive because she’s really quite tiny. He’s more than a head taller, and her small limbs don’t help, although her hands and feet are weirdly big for her small body. Her eyes are also quite large, which would be cute, except she doesn’t seem to fucking blink, which is just unnerving. Do pond nymphs' eyes not get dry? Or since she seems to like moisture so much maybe she doesn’t need to.
Maybe she doesn’t have eyelids. Now that’s a creepy ass thought, and Katsuki resolves to just stop thinking up more questions he doesn’t have the nerve to ask out loud.
The door to the toadstool swings open, and out steps a woman not actually that much taller than the nymph, but her heels and pointed hat definitely help make her appear like she’s on the same level as Katsuki.
However, she completely ignores him and embraces the nymph enthusiastically, wrapping her tight in her arms, giving an exclamation.
“Tsu! Oh my, I’ve missed you so much! It’s been much too long since I last saw you!”
She’s dressed more elaborately than any other person Katsuki’s ever seen. Layers and layers of pink and purple ruffles, black lace, pointed heels, a dress that goes all the way down to her heels, only the toes of her shoes peeking out. An elegant corset too, with a big black bow on top of her sternum. The hat is mystifying as well. There’s a strange orb dangling from the point, like a sphere smooth crystal, and if Katsuki isn’t crazy yet, there’s swirls of different coloured light coming from it. Plus, it looks like it’d be pretty heavy, but considering the fact that her hat hasn’t slipped off yet, the contrary must be true.
Her face is something else altogether. Katsuki had been preparing himself for anything, although mostly scary shit. Completely blacked out, or maybe glowing eyes, fangs, spider-leg-like hair, a hunched back, warts, or maybe even bat wings, heck, even claws. But… She looks positively… Nice?
Her eyes are round and her lashes are long, face moon-shaped and soft. Her pupils are a simple dark hazel brown, and her hair is just slightly lighter, the colour of a doe’s coat without the dappled white spots. Her cheeks are slightly pink, like they’ve been dusted with spun sugar, and well… All in all, she’s really goddamn pretty.
Katsuki shakes off the thought. Whether she’s ugly or beautiful doesn’t matter in the slightest. She could be a goddamn blood-sucking bat and he’d still be here. Although, he’d have to avoid having his blood sucked…
What the fuck ever.
“I’m very happy to see you too, Ochako.” The nymph, ‘Tsu’, says, her voice coming out with a bit more of a ribbit now that it’s not so stiff. She smiles wide at her friend, and Katsuki thinks about how despite the fact that they’re magical beings, their relationships don’t seem to be all that different from human ones.
“Oh dear, who’s this? Surely you haven’t got a human lover, Tsu? You know that never ends well…” The witch trails off, giving Katsuki a scrutinising look.
He feels his cheeks redden. He’s known the frog-like nymph for about a day, and this woman is making such assumptions about them already? How rude, if he thinks about it for a second. Gossipy then, just like humans.
But that’s not the point. He’s not here to do a study on the similarities between humans and magical beings, he’s here more for the differences. The differences being the hopeful chance that a witch doctor will be able to help where a human healer can’t. Katsuki just has to get her to help him first.
“Of course not, Ochako, don’t be silly.” For the first time, the nymph laughs, a croaky sort of sound, but it’s a nice sound nonetheless, one of amusement. “Between the two of us, you’re much more likely to fall for a human. You’re ever so interested in them.”
She gives Katsuki a jerk of the head, voice growing a little more serious. “He’s here to ask for your help. I agreed because I know he doesn’t have any bad intentions, just so you know. But you don’t have to help him, if you don’t want to.” She then lowers her voice, even though Katsuki can still hear her anyway. Maybe it’s just for dramatic effect.
“I’ll knock him over the head and make sure he forgets where you live. And if he tries anything I’ll turn him into a lilypad.” The nymph whispers, eyes narrowed.
“How the hell do you know I don’t have any bad intentions?” Katsuki’s mouth lets slip. Immediately, he’s cursing himself, but the damage is already done. He folds his arms over his chest, trying not to look scared. “I mean, not that I do, but how could you possibly know? You don’t even know me.” He points out.
The nymph lets out a ribbit, kind of like how a human might go ‘tsk’. “Because you cooked for me.”
The chocolate pudding? “What, did you think I was going to poison it or something?” How ridiculous. As if anyone sane would do something so stupid. And for what reason? She’s a pond nymph. She’s not dangerous, nor does she have any possessions to steal except a literal pond. Katsuki would sure like to see a bandit try and carry that off in a sack.
“No, I didn’t say that.” The nymph says slowly, like she’s being condescending. Or, well, maybe she is. Katsuki doesn’t know how long she’s existed for. Maybe she’s like a thousand years old and his silly mortal brain is annoying her.
Surprisingly, the witch steps in. “What Tsuyu means is that she could taste that it was made with a good soul. Food made with love always tastes best.” She smiles softly at Katsuki, as though he’s been trying to win her over and after lots of hard work and devotion he’s finally done it.
“Um. Okay.” Katsuki decides not to ask. None of that is even relevant to him. “I’m only here to ask you for help. If you can’t help me, or you don’t want to, I promise I’ll leave, and I won’t come back, or tell anyone else where you live.”
Not that she really needs to worry about that. Katsuki doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to even be able to give them vague directions. He spends most of his time either at his forge, doing chores, or with his dogs, while simultaneously doing chores. At the mere thought of his dogs his chest twinges with worry. ‘Tsuyu’ had assured him the witch doctor lived very close by, and that was the main reason he’d come out to see her, so he wouldn’t have to leave his dogs for too long. There wasn’t much he could do for them anyway, so he didn’t think he could make much of a difference by being there or not.
“Aww, that’s sweet of you.” The witch doctor says, voice filled with some kind of cloying sweetness. Eurgh. Maybe he should’ve just stayed away. “What seems to be the matter? You’re definitely fine, so is it a sibling? Parents?…” She scrunches her nose, scrutinising him once again, but less cynically than before since she’s not under the impression that he’s wooing her friend anymore.
“A lover?” She guesses, and Katsuki narrows his eyes.
“No.” He says bluntly, not wanting to waste any more time. “It’s my dogs. They’re dying from this weird disease, and I’ve tried everything I can think of, and the village healer wants to put them down, but I…” He trails off, but finds his words again. “I can’t do that. So here I am.”
“So here you are.” The witch doctor repeats, staring at him.
And for the first time in the hours that he’s known her, Tsuyu doesn’t look at him with any suspicion or hostility, just… Concern. Not pity, worry.
That gives him a lot more courage somehow, and he manages to keep on going despite his fear. “I need your help. I don’t care whatever it is you have to do, do it. Whatever price you demand of me, I’ll pay it. Just please,” Katsuki’s voice breaks a little, and he does his best not to cry.
“I don’t want them to die.” He doesn’t. He’s never dreaded the thought more than anything else in the whole world. If they died… He’d be alone. Really alone.
But apparently he didn’t even have to say that much, because the witch doctor is clenching her jaw with a kind of steely determination that doesn’t seem possible for someone as sweet-faced as her.
She taps a shoe against the ground, impatient. “Well? Lead the way! I’ve got some dogs to save.”