Chapter Text
Part 10 (Final)
“And you’re sure about this.”
The response came after a moment of silence that felt unending. Neither party stepping down, each knowing that whoever would be the first to speak would be the one who would show their wrists to the other in defeat. And at this moment, it appeared the flame bearded man on top of the throne had been the one to lay down his arms at this moment.
“Yes.” His heir spoke, glancing momentarily as the streaks of sunlight that poured in from the windows in the throne room. “I’ll return when I feel it's my time to succeed you.”
Enji cracked a smile, a small laugh escaping his lips as he saw his son begin to turn and head towards the door. So this was how things were now… after everything…
“Shouto.” His father spoke, causing the male to pause in his strides.
Todoroki’s eyes looking towards the older male as he turned slightly to look back at the man on top of the throne. His body showing that despite his father speaking to him in a way that asked him to freeze in his tracks, the young prince had done so out of courtesy and not because he felt like he was forced to.
Enji sighed, looking towards the side with a neutral face and thin line on his lips. His cerulean eyes seeming to have much to say, but his mind and lips could only process so much of it.
“Bring her flowers… she always appreciates the gesture.”
Todoroki nearly nodded before continuing on his way down the throne room until he reached to doors. And soon enough, he was outside of the room, closing the door behind him slowly until it clicked closed.
In front of him now wasn’t the ruler and father, but rather a group of individuals who he was certain had been trying to listen in on the discussion that had been happening behind the doors for the last several minutes.
“Well?” Uraraka asked, her feet hovering off the ground gently.
Iida gently tugged her back down to the floor, sighing at how his companion’s emotions were more linked to her mark than anyone he had ever seen. But, at this moment, he could understand her nerves. After all… a confrontation with King Enji wasn’t exactly on anyone’s desirable events.
“He’s not going to stop me.” Todoroki stated, looking towards his friend with a small smile. “Nor is he going to demand for me to come home… I made that very clear. And for once… it looks like he’s actually going to abide by my own wishes.”
“So that means you can come with us, correct?” Tsuyu asked, touching her chin with her finger as her head tilted to the side.
Todoroki chuckled, nodding his head almost shyly to the other five individuals near him. Their forms going from nervous and anticipating to excited and overjoyed with his simple act. Todoroki blinked as Uraraka and Midoriya had thrown their arms around him and hugged either side of the male.
Iida and Shinsou merely nodded their heads towards him, and Asui’s bright smile let him know that everyone was more than happy to hear that the aloof prince would finally be allowed to go on his own adventures now.
“Of course… I need to visit my mother first before we can truly embark on this journey.” He clarified as he was being freed from the loving embrace.
“Of course! Of course!” Uraraka beamed. “Anything else?”
“Well…” He sighed, glancing down. “I still have a few more things to wrap up here before I can truly leave.”
“Well… let’s leave tomorrow morning then.” Midoriya spoke, his allies nodding to him as he spoke. “We’ll all have time to get supplies and you can wrap up whatever else needs to be taken care of.”
Todoroki nodded, and before he knew it… he was standing alone once more in the hallway. His legs feeling as if they were glued to the ground, but as he spotted a familiar figure making her way down the opposite corridor, he managed to snap himself out of his daze and follow her.
He needed to say his thanks to her as well after all. Especially after everything she had done for him on this long journey.
“Yaoyorozu.” He spoke, watching as the black haired female paused and turned towards the crown prince. “Do you have a moment?”
Her face softened and she nodded to the male. “Of course. What did you want to discuss?”
Todoroki shook his head. “Nothing. I wanted to give you my thanks for all your help.”
Yaoyorozu laughed softly, moving towards the male and extending her hand towards him. Todoroki looked at her, then at her hand, seeing as the female didn’t pull back or seem to second guess her offer of a hand. Todoroki accepted her hand, shaking it with a friendly gesture as the two looked at one another.
“There’s no need to thank me.” She replied. “It’s what friends do.”
Todoroki nodded at her, the statement seeming to strike something else inside of him. His eyes locking onto Yaoyorozu’s as she pulled away, her free hand now pointing towards his hip.
“If you ever need a repair or a new one… you know where to find me.” She spoke of his sword, seeing as Todoroki nodded.
“I’ll make sure to stop by and say hello if I find myself in Tital. Especially if you’d join me for tea and teach me how to properly serve it.” He proposed to her.
Yaoyorozu’s face light up at his offer and with a nod and a large smile on her face she turned. “I look forward to seeing you again soon then.”
Todoroki smiled back at her, knowing he had a good friend in the world and one who would always be willing to put more than just her good faith into. After all… she had offered herself as a potential wife to him, just so she could check in on him. She waved, turning back and starting to head back to wherever she had been going in the first place.
Todoroki watched her go, his mind thinking of what else he needed to do, who else he needed to see and what words were still left unsaid. After all… he would be departing soon, and thus, he couldn’t exactly leave a lot of things unsaid.
~~~~~
The dark hallways he passed through were certainly a place he didn’t think he would end up. But, despite how much he tried to tell himself he didn’t need to come here, and that the voice in his head telling him to come here was just his guilty conscious… he eventually caved in.
And now, he was standing in front of a wall of bars, looking at the new resident who had been placed here the night before. His usually messy black hair looking more tossed than the last time he saw him, and the battle wounds he had earned himself looking to not be treated since having received them.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here…” Touya sighed. “Did you come to gloat?”
Todoroki’s hands tightened around the small tray he was holding. But even so, he had come this far, he was not going to back down now. Especially since some part of him seemed to think this was a good way for him to find another bit of closure in the messed up story that was his family.
“Unlike you… I don’t gloat or mock others when they are already down.” He stated, the harshness and disappointment present, but soon replaced with a bit of tenderness as he crouched down. “Here… I doubt father has treated you well…”
Todoroki slid the tray of food and a wetted cloth towards his brother. The assassin raising a brow at this, and hesitantly taking the items into his chained grasp.
“Treating me to a decent meal and letting me wipe away the dry blood…” He chuckled. “I’d say it's obvious you’re trying to feel better about putting me in here.”
Todoroki shook his head. “Not at all. You practically killed me once already… I’m simply here to try and get our family into a healthier position with one another.”
Touya snorted as he placed the cup of water to his lips. “Healthier? As long as that mad man is the one in charge of this family… and this kingdom… then its more likely for me to start being able to use ice magic along with my fire.”
“Fuyumi and Natsuo have already said they’d be willing to come home more often if it meant seeing and talking to you.”
“And what… talk about what amazing lives they have now that they are not living under his rule? Meanwhile, I’m more stuck under it than ever before? I’d rather be taken back to the afterlife with that Goddess you seem so close to, Shouto.”
Todoroki narrowed his gaze, letting a soft sigh escape his lips. He had tried… he really had, but it appeared that even now, Touya was still too stuck in his own views to truly see anything more. There was still one more thing he had to tell him though… despite it all, Todoroki believed Touya still had a right to know.
“I’m leaving to see her again tomorrow.”
Touya looked up at him, his eyes wide. Todoroki nodded towards him, a silent confirmation of the person Touya had assumed he was asking if he was speaking about. Slowly he turned his cerulean gaze away from his younger brother.
“I see…” He mumbled out. “I hope she’s in better health now then she was the last time I saw her… the last time we all saw her.”
Todoroki nodded slowly, sensing that despite the bad blood between his brother and him… their mother was still someone that either could feel a connection towards and also to one another.
“I’ll let her know you still think of her.” Todoroki told his older brother.
Touya simple nodded, sinking his teeth into the bread that was brought. The conversation dying out as he ate the meal that had been brought to him. Todoroki rose to his feet as Touya continued to eat.
He wiped off his attire of the dirt from the dungeon grounds before he started to walk away one. But he stopped himself, one last thought coming to his mind and asking to be shared before he left once again.
“I hope that one day… we’ll at least be able to talk without any hostilities, brother.” He spoke, sighing as he started to walk away.
Once he was out of earshot, and his figure nearly out of view, Touya let out a sigh of his own. Adjusting his position with the chains and looking towards the single droplet of sunlight that was allowed in his cell, the male chuckled.
“Maybe one day brother… maybe one day I can see you for what you are and not what father made me believe you were.”
~~~~~
He had found you much later than he expected. The only way he even knew was when he just so happened to look out his window from the castle and saw your form facing out towards the lake from the hill in the royal gardens.
And now he found himself walking up behind you. Your face turning slightly to see who was approaching you, only turning back when you saw it was him. He took a seat next to where you were sitting, gazing out at the setting sun with you.
It was silent for a long while, only when he felt the air had changed did he decide to speak up. The dryness of his tongue not being allowed to stop his words from coming and his feelings from being shared.
“I’ve been infatuated with you…” He confessed.
You hummed. “I had a feeling…”
“How?”
You laughed shyly. “Well… when you promised to stay by my side for all eternity inside of coming back here or being reincarnated… it certainly told me a thing or two.”
Todoroki nodded slowly, watching as your gaze returned to the skyline ahead. His own eyes following suit. “Well… I suppose I should also thank you for giving me my life and body back.”
You shook your head. “I don’t deserve that. All I did was reserve the effects of Cerius’ weapon… it was you and Midoriya that managed to get it back to me. The one who saved you… was yourself, Shouto.”
Your eyes met his, and he could understand it for that moment. The feelings you had as well, but also the impossibility of it all. And as he closed his eyes, and nodded to you… he understood. And he told himself that he could accept it. After all… there was no reason to complicate the first day of peace the two of you were saving after such a chaotic time.
You sighed, scooting a bit closer to him as you spoke again. Todoroki taking notice and coming closer as well. The both of you nearly touching but making sure to not go any further. The implications out in the open, but no longer being acted upon as they once had begged to be.
“I do like to imagine a time where we could have ended up together.” You spoke with a dry smile. “One where I’m not a Goddess and you are not a prince.”
“It would have been quite the life…” He agreed, his hand finding itself on top of your own. “But… I doubt we would have had the adventure we had if we were not who we are.”
“You’re probably right about that.” You chuckled, looking towards the setting sun with a sad smile. “You know… I think this is what I always miss the most when I’m home.”
“The sunset?” Todoroki asked, glancing over towards you.
You shook your head, rolling your shoulders to get more comfortable as your hands dug further into the grass on this small hill. Your eyes were lost in the fading colors of the day, as the first blooms of the night started to be spottable in the sky.
“No… I have no doubt that I’ll be able to find some way to recreate it back home… but what your world has that’s always been much better than my own… is the realism behind it. No matter how hard I try… I’ll never be able to make my own sunset as magnificent as this one. The stars don’t ever look as bright, the wind doesn’t carry you the same way… and the company is always non-existent.”
Your laughter was dry, but from the crack that came from it towards the end, despite you attempting to hide it, Todoroki could tell that every goodbye had been hard on you. And your own fear that this one would be the same was weighing down heavily.
“No one is stopping you from coming to visit.” He spoke but regretted it quickly.
“Actually… the queue to see me and pass on is getting pretty long now…” You admitted. “So I don’t think my free time will come anytime soon.”
Todoroki hummed to your response, not knowing if the words in his mind would be foolish to mention or not. But despite the nerves that might come from a bad reaction to his words, he decided to share them, already feeling as if you and he were past pleasantries.
“Well… if it makes you patient at your role… I’ll be waiting just as patiently to see you again.”
You laughed, this one full of a little more life in it. “That sounds like you’re saying you’ll be waiting for death, Todoroki.”
He shook his head. “No.. I didn’t mean it like that. More so… I’ll be waiting for when I can talk to you again. We’ll have a lot to catch each other up on I imagine.”
“Over a half-century of stories to exchange… so yeah, I’ll be waiting patiently for you to tell me of the adventures you had the treasures you found.” Your smile graced your lips again. “Just… make sure to actually live a little bit yourself, okay?”
He nodded as you started to get up from where you had been sitting. Your eyes glancing at him once more, a vision of peace over the hues of (eye color) he had come to know. Your hand reached out towards him, and with a smile of his own, he grabbed it without any hesitation.
You helped pull him up, small bits of light starting to break away from your body as you faded away. You’d be carried home by the winds, and returned to your world soon, but for now… you wanted to bid him a proper goodbye.
“Thank you… for everything (Name).” He told you, wisps of his hair flowing in the air.
“Thank you for being my friend.” Your eyes watered but didn’t break down your face. “Until next time we meet.”
“Until then.” He said, seeing as his hand was empty once more.
The last bits of your face faded as a final smile crossed your lips and were seen by his hues of cerulean and silver. And as the final second of daylight faded, the only source of light left was the small pieces of light that danced through the air and floated out of reach of those who were lucky enough to see them.
Todoroki sucked in a deep breath and watched as the light balls were dulled out and forgotten about from the brilliance of the stars above. He laid down once more, taking in the starry night sky as he listened to the sounds of the night pass by.
His mind calm and free of any cares. The only thing he wanted to do at this moment was laying here on this hill and look towards the heavens. Soon enough morning would come after all… and when it did, a new chapter of his life would begin.