Chapter Text
The afternoon has barely started and Shouto is already feeling exhausted, rubbing at the back of his neck with a sigh as he makes his way out of the throne room. His father’s definition of ‘ruling’ and his own are unfortunately not even the tiniest bit aligned, and going through it all without having much of a say in any of it, just watching on the pretence of ‘learning how it’s done’, is unbearably draining. At least he still has his mother’s private gardens whenever he finds some time for himself. At least here things are peaceful.
Momo is standing guard at the entrance, as she usually is, but she respects his privacy enough to allow him these few hours alone, away from everything and everyone as he walks among the flowers his mother had lovingly tended to, when she was still around. They had a castle full of servants but she always insisted on doing it herself, and now that Shouto had started coming here as well, he thinks he understands why.
It’s peaceful; the sun shining warm on his skin, the light breeze blowing against his cheeks and the wonderful scent of nature surrounding him. She used to talk to the flowers, from what he remembers, but Shouto always feels silly whenever he tries. Something about talking to something that most certainly can’t hear him just sounds extremely ridiculous.
Shouto can see the irony in the fact that he talks to animals just fine, but even if they don’t understand him, they can acknowledge he’s addressing them. Most of them anyway. Everyone has their strange little quirks and this just happens to be his. Sometimes he likes to befriend the little critters that wander into the castle grounds, watch the butterflies flutter around the roses or whistle along with the birds in the trees, and sure, that may be a little… weird. But it soothes Shouto’s soul, and given who his father is and what he has to deal with because of it, that’s something he needs to cherish.
Things may be pretty uneventful in the gardens, but that’s most of what Shouto likes about them. But then…
“Bunny…” Shouto breathes, watching as a strangely coloured bunny rabbit runs straight into his leg from the edges of the surrounding forest.
He can’t resist the urge to bend down and pick the tiny ball of green fluff as it fumbles to gather its bearings. At first, its little heart seems to be trying to beat right out of its chest, but once Shouto helps it settle in his arms it seems to calm down, snuggling up to his chest. It’s the most adorable little piece of fuzz he’s ever laid eyes on and he’s holding it. It’s so cute and soft and Shouto wants to protect it forever.
Okay, perhaps that’s a little excessive, but the feeling still stands. Shouto holds the little bunny closer and it reaches up, its little nose twitching cutely before it touches it to the tip of his. Carefully and with a small smile stretching on his lips, Shouto pets the bunny’s head, its little ears sticking to its head as he scratches between them. His heart squeezes in his chest and he squeezes the bunny in response, leaning down to coo at it before placing a soft kiss on its forehead.
Suddenly, the air around the bunny explodes in a puff of green smoke and it gets way heavier. About what a well-built man might weigh. About exactly that, considering Shouto is left staring at him in the face while he has his arms and legs wrapped around him and tall, green bunny ears poking out from between wild and equally verdant curls. And that face is bright red, speckled with a million and one dark freckles, with two large, bright emerald eyes that shine with the threat of tears.
Shouto’s heart skips a beat and he blinks stupidly at the red-faced stranger he’s still holding.
That is, until he starts shrieking and squirming and Shouto accidentally lets him go, causing him to fall on his rear with a pained yelp. He pulls his rabbit ears down to cover his scarlet face, curling in on himself as he starts mumbling. Not really knowing how to react, Shouto just stands there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to another and wondering if he happened to fall asleep among the flowers and this is just some weird dream.
But their eyes meet when he stops mumbling and his ears shoot up, that stunned look on his face morphing to horrified embarrassment and making his heart pick up its pace, and that definitely feels real. Shouto doesn’t remember having dreams that didn’t have him wake up screaming, so something this pleasant certainly can’t be one. Looking back towards the gardens’ entrance to see if Momo is rushing to check if something’s wrong and realising the bunny-man’s shrieks must have been quiet enough for her to miss them, Shouto turns back to this strange intruder.
“You were just a bunny rabbit.” The man stills, then nods slowly. “And now you’re a man with rabbit ears.”
“Well, actually, the term would be a pixie bun.” He slaps his hands over his mouth and Shouto tilts his head in curiosity. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to speak out of turn! Please don’t hurt me!”
“Hurt you?” The man hides behind his ears once more, trembling slightly. “Why would I hurt you?”
“Y-you’re the Prince. And I just trespassed on castle grounds. Your lord father and our kind are…”
“Not on good terms.” Shouto completes when his voice trails off into an inaudible whisper. “I don’t think he’s on good terms with anyone. But if I agreed with any of his views, I don’t think you’d still be talking.”
Blinking up at him, the man slowly lets go of his ears and they perk up once more as he stands up and lets them droop to the back of his head. That bright flush spreads further on his face and he traps his bottom lip between his teeth, hanging his head and looking down at his feet. He starts to fidget.
“You have a name?” Shouto asks, raising an eyebrow as the ears point back to the sky, his eyes widening.
“Y-yes!”
There’s a long pause. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Right! Um, Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Midoriya I-I-Izuku… I swear that I didn’t mean to intrude, I was just running from Kacchan…”
Kacchan? “As a bunny…”
“Yeah… He’s a wizard. He’s the one who turned me… I said his hat was funny and he got mad at me…”
Shouto hums. “That’s certainly a predicament.”
“Yeah… I’m sorry…”
“So, why did you turn back?”
“I think I heard him shout something about ‘good luck finding a royal to kiss you back to normal, ya damn nerd’, but I was busy running away before he caught me so I can’t be sure. But it was nice meeting you! I should get going now, sorry to disturb you on your peaceful walk.”
Midoriya starts trying to walk past him and Shouto just steps in his way, arms crossed. “You needed a royal to kiss you back to normal?”
“Seems that way! What a coincidence, right?” He trails off into a little nervous laugh, his ears twitching.
“Are you sure it was a coincidence?”
“Pretty sure. Crazy right? I’ll get off your hair now.”
Crazy? Yes, maybe a little bit. But Shouto has this gut feeling it had nothing to do with chance at all. He takes a gander at his assumption. “How long have you been watching me from the forest?”
“What? Me? Watching you? From the forest? Why on earth would I—”
Before Shouto can even think to react, Midoriya jumps right over his head and runs towards the trees, quickly disappearing between the foliage and leaving Shouto staring after him. Well, that certainly proved him right. What an interesting creature…
When Shouto returns to the castle with Momo by his side as usual, there is a new spring to his step and something else to look forward to in the gardens.