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Todoroki Shouto had seen many things in his life. He had seen traitors to the crown burnt alive at his father’s touch, witnessed unseasonal blizzards born of his mother’s grief and fury, watched his betrothed sculpt her own flesh and blood into intricate works of metal and ceramic. None of it had prepared him for leaving home.
He dodged a wide swipe of the monster’s clawed mitt, and swung his blade hard against a chink in its chitinous armour at the wrist. Magic flowed along his sword at a thought, and the monster staggered back screeching as it clutched its arm, now frozen from the inside out. The price of combining magic with one-handed swordplay. He spun to face an inhuman scream behind him as the ice spread rapidly towards his opponent’s heart, and stopped short at the sight of Midoriya with his sword in the screeching monster’s face. Strands of hair clung to his forehead, and the rest seemed to defy gravity the way it always did when his travelling companion activated his strange magic, floating around his head and swaying with every movement.
“That’s all of them.” he panted, hair settling down as the golden glow faded from the air around him. “How is everyone?” he looked up, scanning around until he spotted all of them.
“Could do with a mana boost, but I’m good.” Uraraka groaned, flexing her fingers around the wood of her staff. “I must’ve sent half a dozen of those monsters flying.”
“An admirable job!” Tenya gave her a thumbs up, pushing his visor up with his other hand. Shouto quickly looked away, poking at the monster on the ground by his feet. How did he manage to look so cute even in full plate? Midoriya was understandable, he had an adorable face and relied on his magic for armament so he still looked cute and almost innocent even with pus-like monster blood splattered across his front. But Tenya, with his heavy armour and usually stern face, how the hell did he manage the same effect?
It didn’t make any sense, and wasn’t fair besides.
“Shouto?”
He looked up at the hand on his shoulder, and found Tenya looking at him with evident concern.
“Are you hurt?” the squire asked, and he shook his head. That was something he still had to get used to, people worrying about him.
“Wouldn’t want to get in another fight today, but I’ll be fine.” he said, and Tenya smiled.
“Good to hear.” he squeezed Shouto’s shoulder, then let his hand fall and turned to scold the other two members of their party for standing around doing nothing when there were enemy corpses to dispose of.
---
That night, after camp had been made and Uraraka and Midoriya had vanished off to somewhere together, Shouto found himself sitting across the fire from Tenya as the taller boy cleaned his armour. The flames crackled, Tenya’s cleaning rag dragged wetly over his armour, off in the woods mimicrows made shrill imitations of wolf howls. At least, he hoped they were mimicrows. He looked down at his sword, the blade immaculate, and chewed on the inside of his lip. The silence, while far from total, felt heavy around him. But how was he supposed to break it? Uraraka seemed to just say whatever was on her mind, but when the thoughts on his mind were in the vein of how nicely the firelight caught the youngest Iida’s cheekbones and the rims of his glasses, well, that just wasn’t appropriate.
“How is your sword holding up?” Tenya’s voice cut through the night air, and Shouto startled as he looked up from mindlessly polishing his weapon.
“Oh, it’s-” he stopped and looked down at the blade resting in his lap, scrutinising every nick and scratch in the metal. “It’s seen better days, but I think it’ll hold up through the battle with the Great Evil.”
“That’s good to hear.” Tenya smiled at him, and Shouto swore his heart skipped a beat. In the firelight, bereft of his armour and dressed only in rumpled travelling clothes, he looked more handsome than any fairy tale knight. Gods, did he look handsome. Between him and Midoriya, it was a wonder Shouto hadn’t tripped over his own tongue yet in conversation, though it probably helped that he let the rest of the party do most of the talking.
“So, you never really said.” Tenha looked back down at his armour, moving the rag over to a spot which hadn’t yet been serviced. “What drove you to come with us on our Quest?”
Shouto tore his eyes from Tenya’s face and looked back at his sword, running a thumb over the blade. He couldn’t very well tell him the truth, at least not all of it. “When we met, outside the capitol...” he said after a few long seconds of silence. “I think I was looking for something. A reason to stay, or to go; and then I met you.” he looked up, and found Tenha watching him intently. “You gave me a purpose, something to do with my life other than-” he shut his mouth quickly, and Tenya set aside the metal in his lap to lean forwards.
“Other than what?” he asked, looking almost concerned.
Shouto debated not answering, but only for a second. “Other than what my father had planned for me.” he said, casting his gaze down to the stones which ringed their fire. “It’s all politics, and I refuse to be his pawn.”
“Todoroki.” Iida frowned, looking into the fire. “I hate to ask, but, your father...” he clasped his hands, looking troubled. “Do you think he’s sent the royal guard after us?”
Shouto stiffened. “What do you mean?” he asked, trying his hardest to sound casual.
“I mean your hair isn’t exactly inconspicuous, and your father, His Majesty King Doryoku Enji, probably isn’t happy about you running away. Probably even less so that every sighting of you is closer to the Great Evil’s domain.” Iida said calmly, and Shouto’s blood ran cold.
“How-” he breathed, his voice deserting him after that first strangled word.
“I studied family trees, in what little spare time I had training under my brother.” Iida’s voice remained level, his eyes focused on the fire. “But that’s beside the point.” he looked up, the flames catching in his dark eyes and lighting them up brighter than any jewel. “Do you think we are being pursued?”
Shouto looked back into the fire, and slowly shook his head. “If he hasn’t sent them after me already, he isn’t planning to. I left a note when I left, he knows I'm on a Quest. If I see this through, I’ll bring glory and honour to our family.”
“And if you die?”
“Then he loses nothing but a future political marriage to the Yaoyorozus.” Shouto shrugged. Father might publicly mourn him, but it would be as performance as his grief at Touya's funeral.
Tenya didn’t reply, and when the silence had stretched into awkwardness Shouto looked up to see his travelling companion with an expression he could only describe as intense. Tenya’s eyes flicked up to meet his, then he quickly looked away. “Apologies, I just- I can’t believe that all this time, I’ve aspired to become a knight who serves and protects someone like that.”
Shouto tilted his head to the side, and Tenya’s cheeks flushed in a way that was frankly unfairly cute. He was already handsome, why did he get to be cute too?
“I’m sorry.” Tenya gave him a smile that looked more like a grimace. “I know you don’t like talking about your family, but I had to know if we’d be facing a two-front effort.”
“Two-front?” Shouto frowned.
“Well, ahead of us there’s the Great Evil’s forces.” Tenya gestured to one side. “And if there were people coming up behind us to try and take you away...” he gestured the other way, looked from one hand to the other, then turned to face Shouto and gave him a small, genuine smile. “Well, we wouldn’t just let them have you.”
Shouto felt his cheeks heating, one more than the other, and after a few seconds realised that the extra heat was coming from the shoulder of his doublet, which had caught fire. He yelped, and slapped at the flames until they went out. Tenya chuckled, and Shouto pouted at him, which worked to make him shut up. He looked away, cheeks pink, and after a moment of hesitation Shouto stood and walked around the fire to sit next to the taller boy.
“Thank you.” he said softly, looking down at his sword as he slid it back into its sheath.
“It’s nothing.” Tenya brushed the gratitude away immediately. “Knights or no, taking a non-criminal somewhere against their will is considered abduction. I’d sooner break my own arm than let that happen to you.”
Shouto slid his blade home, and thankfully his cheeks only burned metaphorically as he ran over Tenya’s words in his head. Tenya, the guy so straight-laced he wouldn’t even use his handsome adult-looking face and frame to get them alcohol at pubs, was willing to stand up to anyone to keep him safe with their little band of adventurers. Up to and including the Royal Guard. “Really.” he looked up, and met Tenya’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Tenya smiled, and Shouto didn’t realise how close to each other they’d gotten until he felt Tenya’s breath on his skin. “May I?” Tenya asked, voice barely even a whisper.
They were too close for him to nod, so instead Shouto leaned forwards. Tenya’s lips were dry against his own, but not in a chapped way. He gasped quietly as one of Tenya’s hands came up to rest on the back of his neck, oil smearing across his skin and into his hair. Tenya’s mouth opened slightly, matching Shouto’s, and as their mouths closed again Shouto pulled away. Tenya’s cheeks were crimson in the warm firelight, and Shouto had the startlingly powerful urge to kiss him again.
He leaned in, and wound up with his face in Tenya’s chest when the other boy abruptly sat up straight. “I should finish my armour.” he blurted, and Shouto’s mouth wanted to pull into a frown but instead he kept his face neutral as he sat up.
“Alright.” he turned away from Tenya, back to the campfire, and stared into the flames. His heart was racing in his chest, and he lifted a hand to gently touch his lips. This was new, uncharted territory for him, possibly for both of them. He had a feeling that figuring it out would be as much an adventure as the Quest they were on.