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“One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.” ~Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
It was supposed to be simple - get in, get the prince, get out.
Even though it was a little more complicated than Iida’s usual plans, it was still an Iida plan - there was no way it wouldn’t work.
Their little band of sky pirates would pose as a traveling theater troupe, putting on a performance for King Enji Todoroki and the rest of the nobles in the capital, right in front of the royal castle. While the king was distracted, they were to slip a sleeping potion in the prince’s tea and whisk him off to the ship. Once the play concluded, the airship (which doubled as the stage) would depart, leaving King Enji none the wiser.
There were rumors floating around the crew that their client for this convoluted kidnapping was King Toshinori Yagi, but Midoriya paid them no mind - even if the rumors were true, King Toshinori was a good man. He had to have some legitimate reasons to kidnap the prince of a hostile neighboring kingdom.
He hoped.
As the play opened, Midoriya slipped into the castle unnoticed. He glanced at the crudely-drawn map in his pocket and snuck into the guards’ quarters. This was easy, he thought to himself. Maybe a bit too easy.
As if the universe heard him, voices sailed down the hallway and he had to press himself against the wall.
“And you aren’t at your posts, why?”
“Aww, come on, Captain Yoarashi! It’s just a play!”
Midoriya heard a loud metallic stomp. “Just a play?! Utsushimi, thieves and assassins could be lurking in the castle right now!”
(Midoriya had to stifle his chuckles.)
“But Inasa -"
“Don’t you ‘Inasa’ me, Camie! Get to your posts, all of you! Now!”
After some grumbling, metallic footsteps echoed down the hallway. Midoriya prayed that none of them would be passing him, but the clinks and clanks only grew louder. He didn’t want to do this -
As the lone guard passed by, he whacked them with the hilt of his sword. In an instant, they were out cold. Midoriya knelt down to remove their helmet and a waterfall of brown hair tumbled out. This must have been the girl speaking earlier … Camie Utsushimi?
Midoriya grimaced. If he were to progress any further into the castle, he’d need a disguise.
After much deliberation, he decided on just taking her helmet and praying he didn’t run into either of the captains of the guard. With cursory glances at his map, he zipped down hallways and up stairs, making sure to listen for the sounds of clanking armor. (It seemed that the Alexandrian Castle Guard was in desperate need of re-outfitting their members.) One more flight of stairs, and - ah! This must lead to the balcony where the king and prince were watching the play! Now, how to slip the prince a cup of tea …
Midoriya’s thoughts were interrupted by a cloaked man bumping against him. If this man was going for stealth, he wasn’t doing a good job; the cloak was that of a healer: bright white with decorative red triangles.
“Ah!” the man gasped. “I - I apologize!” He seemed skittish - another thief, perhaps?
“No, you’re fine!” Midoriya re-adjusted the man’s cloak as a pretense for trying to see his face. “Did the king need a healer?”
“A healer? No, why -" The man glanced down, as if he’d just realized what kind of cloak he was wearing. “Oh. Well … what’s a guardsman without most of his armor? And is that a female helmet you wear?”
Female helmet? Midoriya poked and prodded at the helmet, asking, “Female? What makes this female? Is there a flower on it? Alexandrians do the weirdest things ...”
The man snorted. “I can’t believe you actually fell for that. So, you’re not actually a guard.”
Midoriya pouted. “And you’re not actually a healer.”
Voices echoed through the castle - guards, asking where Prince Shouto had gone -
The cloaked man cursed as he grasped Midoriya’s wrist and ran. Midoriya’s mind worked overtime as he tried to figure out who this man was - thief? Assassin? He fled as soon as the guards announced Prince Shouto was missing - perhaps he was also contracted to kidnap the prince?
A familiar loud voice boomed from ahead. “Seriously? Captain Yaoyorozu, I thought you were in charge of the prince tonight!”
The man cursed again, and pulled Midoriya into a neighboring hallway.
“No, Yoarashi, your unit was assigned to the royal family. My unit is patrolling the castle!”
The cloaked man peered around the corner. “Well, at least that worked.”
Midoriya furrowed his brow. “What worked? Look, whichever thieves’ guild you’re with -"
“Thieves’ guild?” the man repeated. “No, I sent my retainers conflicting information -"
“Retainers?” Midoriya reached out to draw the cloak back from his face and almost lost his mind. There was no mistaking that unique appearance -
“You’re - you’re Prince Shouto,” he squeaked.
The prince lifted the helmet visor and blinked. “And you’re … um … definitely not one of the guards?”
A strong wind buffeted them - but wait, they were indoors -
“Your Highness!” Yoarashi called, channeling some sort of wind magic.
Yaoyorozu drew her blade. “Whoever you are, step away from the prince!”
The prince grimaced as he summoned an ice wall, blocking off the hallway. He grabbed Midoriya’s wrist and began running. “Come on, thief!”
“H-hey, I'm not a -"
Midoriya leaned over the tower parapet, watching the crowd below. No one seemed in a panic - maybe the guards had kept the prince’s disappearance quiet. But the play was due to end soon - they had to get back on the ship -
“So, thief. Did you get what you came here to steal?”
Midoriya frowned and glanced at Todoroki, whose face was unreadable.
He meant to lie, to say something eloquent, but the way his eyes sparkled in the festival lights -
“Steal? I didn’t come here to steal anything. What’s stealing? I don’t know.”
Todoroki turned to the stage and snorted. “I suppose you chose to impersonate the Tantalus Theater Troupe because they’ve been inactive for the last few years. But Tantalus has been inactive because their airship crash-landed in the Alexandrian mountains. No survivors, if I recall correctly.” He shot him a knowing smile, which absolutely disarmed Midoriya. “Also, you mentioned a thieves’ guild earlier.”
Damn his traitorous mouth. He took a deep breath and tried to explain, “Okay fine, we’re not Tantalus, but we honestly didn’t come to raid the treasury or anything, just -"
“So you are thieves.” He pulled the cloak over his head again. “Then if you wouldn’t mind, I'd like you to steal me.”
Midoriya struggled to piece together a coherent sentence. The prince wanted to be kidnapped?
Shouts resounded from the staircase, and the prince seemed to realize that in his blind escape, he’d trapped them at the top of the tower. Frost covered his right hand as he prepared another ice spell -
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Midoriya called. He lowered Todoroki’s arm, being careful to avoid the frost. “You use any of your magic up here and we’ll be caught for sure!”
Todoroki frowned. “You have any other ideas?”
Midoriya’s sharp eyes studied Todoroki’s slim figure - no, he was toned, quite toned, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about - no Midoriya focus - he estimated the distance between the tower and the ship - yes, this may actually work -
A gale battered their bodies - Captain Yoarashi, no doubt. They didn’t have much time. Midoriya whispered, “Prince, I'm gonna need you to be a good kidnap victim and stand still.”
His eyes widened. “Surely you aren’t considering -" He glanced at the airship, where the cast was taking their bows, and paled at realizing how far away they were. “This is madness -"
Midoriya grinned. “Hold still, prince.” In one fluid movement, he scooped him up in his arms and willed his magic to augment his legs. Green electricity crackled as he prepared to jump.
In the next second, they were hurtling through the air, with the prince clinging to him and shouting curses.
Midoriya had aimed for the top deck of the ship, where they could land without the crowd noticing. Unfortunately, they barreled through the closing curtain, in full view of the spectators. They landed inelegantly, tumbling over each other and finally stopping at Iida’s feet. The entire crew stared at them incredulously.
Iida in particular was glaring daggers at him. “What in the name of -"
Midoriya lifted his head and hissed, “I got him! We need to leave, now!”
Underneath him, something grumbled. He glanced down to see a disheveled, angry prince.
Dryly, he commented, “You’re a terrible kidnapper, you know.”
Midoriya shot back, “It would’ve been easier if you’d had the sleeping potion tea we prepared.”
Above the confused din of the audience, there was one angry, booming voice shouting orders. Todoroki paled.
“My father …” he muttered as he scrambled up to a sitting position. “Quickly, get us out before he realizes I'm here!”
Iida gritted his teeth and yelled, “Uraraka! Hatsume! Get this hunk of junk out of here!”
Hatsume, who was hiding in the wings, stomped her foot and screamed, “She is not a hunk of junk, she’s -"
Uraraka threw off her costume and grabbed her by the wrist. “Yeah, yeah, it’s your baby. Now, come on!”
The entire crew scrambled to get to their positions. Midoriya gently lifted the cloak over Todoroki’s head and started leading him belowdecks. “Come on, prince. Let’s hide you away before your dad sees you -"
Without warning, a giant harpoon attached to a chain shot through the curtains and buried itself in the deck. The prince frowned and muttered, “I guess father’s in a really bad mood today …”
From somewhere above them, Iida shouted, “Get that thing out of the ship!”
Midoriya dashed over to the harpoon, green electricity surrounding his body. He could try to lift it out, but no, the harpoon had large barbs - trying to lift it out would make a larger hole in the deck -
“Thief!” Todoroki called. “Your magic - it augments your strength, doesn’t it?”
“Huh? Yeah, why -"
An cold blast from behind him encased part of the harpoon with ice. Todoroki stepped into his view, his right arm covered in frost. “What are you waiting for?”
“Right!” Midoriya leapt into the air and landed a hit on the ice, breaking the harpoon in half. The chain slid off of the deck, clattering to the ground (and probably maiming a few citizens, but he didn’t want to think about that).
The airship was rising, but not fast enough. Metallic creaks and groans surrounded them as the guards aimed the remaining harpoon guns at the ship. The color fled from Midoriya’s face. “You’ve gotta be kidding - how many of these things does your dad have?”
No answer.
“... prince?”
He turned to his left to see Todoroki concentrating - channeling his magic for what seemed like a very powerful spell. Icicles and frost emanated from his body, creating a complex magic circle. His right eye flashed white momentarily -
In an instant, large ice pillars encased the harpoon guns, giving them the opening they needed.
As the castle faded away into the distance, the crew cheered. Midoriya jumped in the air, unable to contain his excitement and relief. “Wow, that was amazing! You were great, prince! … uh, prince?”
He watched with growing horror as Todoroki collapsed, shivering as frost threatened to cover his body.
“Oh no - Iida! Get some blankets - the prince!” Midoriya dashed across the deck, picking up a discarded cloak from a costume and wrapping it around him. He pulled him into his lap and held him close as he willed him to not die - come on, you stupid prince, don’t die on me -
Todoroki’s head fell forward so that his forehead rested on Midoriya’s chest. “You … thief …”
Midoriya pressed closer to him, trying to share his body heat. Luckily, he seemed to grow warmer and warmer by the minute. “You didn’t have to hurt yourself like that! Just hold still and we’ll warm you up …”
Todoroki sighed. “I'm … I'm already doing that …” He lifted his head so that Midoriya could see the red glow in his left eye. “Now, let me go or I'll burn you.”
Midoriya gulped. “Oh. Um. Hang on, let me …” In the process of trying to move the prince from his lap, his hand slipped lower, following the curve of his back, down past his hips, and lower still -
Ooh. He was much softer than Midoriya had imagined.
Todoroki’s left eye flashed a bright red, and suddenly, his entire left side burst into flames.
Midoriya rolled backwards, screaming bloody murder as the fire ran up his sleeves.
The prince drew himself up to his full height, his face turning bright red. “You … you pervert!”
Midoriya rolled onto his arms, smothering the blaze. “It - it was an accident, come on!”
Unfortunately, Iida and Uraraka chose that moment to approach them. Upon seeing the prince on fire, Iida dropped the blankets in his arms.
“What - why - what’s going on?!” he demanded.
As the red glow in Todoroki’s left eye faded, so did the flames on his body. His face still scarlet, he spat, “He - he -"
Midoriya sat up, revealing his singed sleeves. “I told you, it was an accident!”
Uraraka frowned. “Deku, what did you do?”
Midoriya groaned and repeated, “It was an accident! Prince - Your Highness - I did not mean to touch your -"
Iida screamed and waved his hands. “I'm gonna stop you right there! Midoriya, please don’t manhandle the -"
“I wasn’t manhandling him!”
After giving Midoriya and Todoroki a chance to change into fresh, unburnt shirts, the four of them met in the main cabin. Iida opened his mouth to speak, but the prince stepped forward and silenced him with a stony glare.
“You’re the captain, correct?”
Mutely, Iida nodded.
The prince sighed, as if steeling himself. “I'm going to need you to take me to Lindblum. To the capital. I need to speak to King Toshinori.”
Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka exchanged a nervous glance. Did the prince know that King Toshinori contracted them for this kidnapping?
Iida straightened his posture and explained, “We were going to go to Lindblum anyway, but now that King Enji knows you’re here, we can’t go directly to the capital. He … he may assume that King Toshinori was the one to kidnap you. Start a war on that pretense.”
Todoroki opened his mouth to argue, but held his tongue and sighed. “Fine. Get me to the capital any way you can.”
“Hm.” Iida studied the world map on the wall. “It may take us a while. The safest path would be to land the ship in water and continue on foot …”
Midoriya nodded thoughtfully, folding his arms. “You’re gonna be roughing it for a while, prince. You okay with that?”
Todoroki wrinkled his nose. “As long as I don’t have to be in a tent alone with you.”
Midoriya stomped his foot. “I told you, I didn’t mean to do that!”
Uraraka sighed and shook her head. “This is gonna be a long journey …”