Chapter Text
Yuki Onna - Usually they are a Yōkai snow woman described as Inhumanly beautiful. Their eyes can strike terror into mortals that get lost on snowy mountains. They can float across the snow when threatened so they won’t leave any footprints.
Yuki-Onna’s are often interpreted as the creature of someone who perished in the snow. They are always handsome and serene, so this leaves mortals unsuspecting for their ruthless killings.
In the middle of a small village, there lived a family of six. A mother and a father, their two babies, and two older siblings. Of course the family was poor, as was every family living in their village.
Yamaoka Hideari and Inaba Hideari, the eldest of the four children. Yamaoka being 16 years of age, whilst her brother had just turned a hefty age of 20 years old. They were both woodcutters, although other families in the village often stuck their noses up at Yamaoka for being a woman doing men’s work.
Her parents could care less, as long as someone was bringing wood home to sell or trade.
Everyday, the two siblings traveled miles deep into the forest that was five miles away from their village.
**Though, some days, it took longer to get home. This was because Inaba would request for his sister, Yamaoka, to play a game with him. He would make her strip down, no matter the weather, so that he could explore her body.
He didn’t feel any guilt or regret from this. After all, his little sister was beautiful and mature with her long, black hair and strong build.
On the other hand, Yamaoka did not understand why he did this to her. Of course, as a woman and his younger sister, she should never question her older brother’s authority. So even though she could easily push him away from her, she let him do whatever he wished.**
One evening, a freezing, devastating snow storm overtook the both of them.
“Brother, I cannot see,”
“We must hurry home quickly or else our wood will become a waste,” he replied as he pulled the sled full of logs behind him.
The sister says nothing and they continue to walk.
The more they walk, the more the snow seems to get worse. Yamaoka couldn’t feel her own body. She’s sure that by any minute now, she will become as stiff as the wood she cuts down and will slowly die.
In the distance, they both spot a figure walking towards them. The figure seems unaffected from the storm because of how easily they seem to glide through the snow. Once the figure begins to get close, they could see the person’s features were that of a woman.
Her hair was long and white, as was her skin. Her lips were dry, and icy blue. She had dark, black eyes and wore a thin, white kimono that flew behind her from the heavy wind, which revealed her slender, pale legs.
She was beautiful, Yamaoka thought.
Though Yamaoka could not tear her eyes away from her, the woman does not even glimpse towards Yamaoka’s direction. Her attention was glued onto Inaba.
He looked petrified. His mouth was slightly opened as he stared at the handsome woman who was slowly, but surely, making her way to him.
The woman stands in front of him now, her mouth pinched into a smile.
“Inaba Hideari,” she spoke. Even with the screaming wind, both of the siblings could hear her soft voice.
Inaba says nothing, but he doesn’t need to. In the next second, the woman bends her head and kisses his lips.
When she pulls back, Inaba begins to turn blue. Then, he falls to the ground—dead.
Yamaoka should be scared. She should scream and run, but her feet are glued to the ground. She can only stare at the most beautiful woman she has ever seen.
She thinks, If she is to die by this woman’s hand like her dear brother, then she finds that she wouldn’t mind it at all.
Finally, the woman looks towards Yamaoka’s direction. She does not look at her with the same expression she gave her brother, but instead she gives her a small, pleased smile.
The woman no longer seems to glide when she walks to Yamaoka. Yamaoka sees her bare feat when she walks in the snow, and never does the woman shiver or even breathe out a steam of air.
She stands in front of Yamaoka and considerately stares at her for a moment. Then, her pale and feminine hand reaches up and cups her face.
As soon as her skin made contact, Yamaoka didn’t feel too cold anymore. Then, the woman reached down and kissed the woodcutter’s lips.
Yamaoka closes her eyes.
When the woman pulls away, the snowstorm stopped. Yamaoka doesn’t know how, but she’s certain that it has something to do with the woman.
“I could not help but feel pity for you, when watching your brother do what he did to you,” The woman whispers. It almost seemed like the girls were in their own space—their own world, if only just for a moment. “You are so young and pretty, my dear human. And he will not hurt you any longer.”
They stare at each other for a moment, and the woman removes her hand from the woodcutter’s face and backs away. Her body begins to melt away into the air, starting from her legs.
Before she could miss her chance, Yamaoka bravely asks, “What are you called?”
The woman’s eyes seem to sparkle. “I am what you see all around you now; I am what killed your brother.”
Yamaoka doesn’t know what to say, so she says nothing at all. She stared at the woman until her body was nothing but mist being carried away and forgotten.
Yamaoka does not look at her brother’s dead body as she drags his and her sled back to her village.
Everyone in the village wants to know what happened to her brother, and when she explains the beautiful snow woman, nobody believes her and accuses her of murder. Her mother grieves and cries for her lost son.
The father begs for his daughter’s life to be spared, since now she is the only one other than he who can help their mother and baby siblings now.
The villagers spare her life, but they declare that once her siblings are old enough to care for themselves and their parents, then she will be killed for her violent crime.
Yamaoka begs her mother to believe her, but her mother is so full of rage that she would constantly lash out and slap her daughter around.
When speaking to her father, he held no prejudice against her. Things will never be the same between them, but he never hurts her or speaks to her about the incident that happened that evening.
Fourteen years later, the siblings were trained enough to leave their homes themselves for wood. If they come back successful, Yamaoka will have her head sliced off.
Her body shook with nerves while she waited in her home.
Her parents were nowhere in sight. They were most likely discussing what would happen to Yamaoka.
Then, before the sun set, her father came to her with a piece of parchment.
“My daughter, you must take your things and leave now. Your brothers will be successful with bringing wood back home as they know how important your death is to your mother, but I cannot bare to live with your death,” he says in a hushed voice. “Please leave, and never come back. You will always remain in my heart, my lovely daughter.”
Yamaoka cries and hugs her poor, old father. “I love you, and you will always stay in my heart until I die,”
Before dusk, she grabbed all of her most precious items and left. She doesn’t know where she’s going, but she runs to wherever her feet led her.
Since it was spring, the air and ground was much healthier than the winter air, so she was able to run with more ease.
She wonders if anyone has noticed her disappearance yet. She wonders if her father will be hurt by the villagers for it.
She hopes not.
She arrives in a bigger village now. It was busier, filled with life, and more light and smells than she could ever imagine. She felt disgusting with her own rags hanging from her body.
She visits shops, and she comes to a stop when she sees something she cannot believe.
A man was painting a woman who looked similar to the woman she saw during the snowstorm. Of course, she had to speak with him, and when she told him all the things she witnessed, he told her that the handsome snow woman is called a Yuki-Onna.
After a few months of living in this village, she married the painter man. She does not feel anything for him when he kisses her, or when he calls her beautiful, but she was happy with him. Over the years, she birthed five of his children. They were all handsome boys and girls, and one of them looked like her late, older brother. She almost felt sorry for what happened to her brother.
When she could no longer bear children, she began to paint what she could remember of the woman she loved.
When asked by her husband why she always painted the woman, Yamaoka responds that she could never forget what she looked like. Perhaps he knew why she was so fixated on the woman, and why she could not love him the way he loved her.
Some days, she would find herself painting the handsome woman in the forest in hopes of seeing her again. She never came.
Once Yamaoka turned 70 years old, she could no longer stand properly. Now she had to stay in bed more often than not.
Her children would bring her paper so she could paint the woman and her children, but she missed the forest. She missed her father.
She knows she will die soon. She can feel it in the way her bones felt brittle.
today, she will paint her father, and she will finally tell her children why she had to leave her home.
She does, and she shows them her paintings of her family members. They love their grandfather the most.
A few days pass and she is more ill than she was before. She begins to write her goodbyes to her family. She even writes to her parents and siblings, although she is certain her parents are dead by now.
The last time she sees her children, she hugs them all tight and cries. When she sees her husband, he caresses her face and professes his love. When looking at him, she can finally tell him that she feels the same.
That night, she stood up and grabbed her walking stick. It did no good. Her body still aches and she keeps falling, but she has to do this.
She makes it out of the village and into the forest. She begins to call out as she walks into the freezing night.
Yuki-Onna.
Yuki-Onna.
Yuki-Onna.
She knows she is out there somewhere, and she wants her to be by her side while she passes.
Yamaoka forgets what it’s like to be young. She wishes she could go back to the time when she was a woodcutter; to when her parents loved her.
“Yuki-Onna!” She calls. Her croaky voice doing nothing but crack into the sharp, winter air.
She was cold, and she could no longer stand. Her legs wobbled and she finally broke.
Before she hit the ground, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.
“My Yamaoka,”
And Yamaoka cries again.
“Oh, how you’ve grown since I’ve last seen you, yet you’re still just as beautiful.”
Yamaoka smiles.
The Yuki-Onna sets herself onto the ground and lays Yamaoka into the snow while her head rests in the snow woman’s lap.
“How are you, my darling?”
“I am dying,” Yamaoka whispers. The Yuki-Onna’s kind expression doesn’t drop from her face, but Yamaoka sees the slight furrow in her eyebrow. The woman caresses every part of Yamaoka’s face. Her lips, her cheeks, her nose.
“The day you left, I went to see your village. They almost killed your father, if it had not been for your brothers running back and telling them about me.”
Yamaoka laughs. “And you let my brothers tell them about you?”
The Yuki-Onna smiles. “Usually I kill anyone who speaks of seeing me, but since it was for you, then I had no problem.”
They stay in silence. Yamaoka grows weaker by the minute, but she dared not to take her eyes off the woman in front of her.
Yamaoka speaks. “So? How did they take it?”
The Yuki-Onna says nothing for a moment, before opening her mouth and saying, “Your mother cried. She regretted treating you the way she did. Your father cried because he missed you. And the village never spoke of the incident again. Your parents passed away twenty years ago. They lived longer than expected, those two.”
Yamaoka hums tiredly.
The Yuki-Onna curiously looks at her. “You are tired, so close your eyes,”
Yamaoka shakes her head. “Why should I close my eyes when you are finally right in front of me?”
The Yuki-Onna strokes Yamaoka’s hair. “I wish I could be with you forever.” She says wistfully.
“You should have come to see me when I was healthy,” Yamaoka retorts.
The Yuki-Onna smiles softly. “I know.”
Yamaoka raised her arm and pressed her palm against the cold cheek of the white woman. The Yuki-Onna leaned into her touch with sparkling eyes. “I don’t know how, but I believe I love you. Is that possible?”
The Yuki-Onna shakes her head. “Yes, it is possible. I believe I feel the same way.”
Yamaoka smiles and finally closes her eyes. Her arm drops to her side and she takes her last breath in the arms of the one she loves most.
She didn’t feel cold. In fact, she felt the warmest she’s ever felt.
Izuku heard of the rumors as a child.
The prince of the Kingdom Endeavor was speculated to be the son of a Yuki-onna. People who have seen the child had said how alluring he looked; how if it wasn’t for the burn on his face, he would be perfect.
As a kid, though, Izuku didn’t care much for the Endeavor Kingdom. I mean, why would he when he lived in the Yuuei Kingdom? He was happy here. Even when he didn’t show any sign of a magical ability, he was still happy and well taken care of.
He worked as a farmer with his mother once he reached 9 years old. Growing up, his father was never around, so his mother had to do all the heavy lifting and yard work. Izuku adored her for that. Why would he want a dad when he had his mother?
Although he looked up to her and thought of her as one of the strongest people he has ever met, he still knew how much she struggled. She needed help and he wanted to be there for her whenever he could.
When he told Kacchan this, Kacchan laughed. “How could you help her with no magic, Deku?”
When Izuku was 12, he was working the garden of vegetables with his mother and caught a glimpse of a man wandering their city. He had long, black hair and a grey scarf wrapped around his neck. He looked to be seeking shelter, though nobody would help or acknowledge him when he went to speak to them.
The clouds were covering the sun and the bright blue sky, so everyone knew that rain was going to gloom the kingdom for the next few days.
Izuku pointed this out to his mother and she shakes her head. “Awful people they are. Come, Izuku, let’s ask if he needs help.”
Izuku held her hand as they walked up to the man, and upon seeing them, his face lit up.
His mother explains that Izuku was worried for the man, and that if needed, he could stay in their home. The man politely declined, and instead asked if he could have any food.
This was a difficult question, because it was winter and food was scarce, but Izuku didn’t think twice before humming in agreement. “Yeah! We have some food, mom, can I get him the food we just harvested?”
After that, Izuku’s life changed.
The following day, Izuku’s mother opened the door to the king. Without missing a beat, he dropped to his knees and placed his forehead onto the hard, dirty ground. Izuku’s mom covered her mouth in shock.
“Your son, Midoriya Izuku, was the first to show one of my people more kindness than anyone else in this kingdom. Please, would you do me the honor of being my heir?”
Shockingly, his mother agreed quickly.
They moved into the palace shortly after that. All Might constantly trained Izuku to become someone strong and worthy to be King one day.
He was 14 when he received his own magical power that was passed down to him by All Might.
At age 20, Izuku mastered his power. As part of his personal training, he had to leave his own kingdom to go on an Adventure that will press his limits as a prince.
So, that’s how Izuku found himself in a carriage with a few of the best knights riding along with him for safety. Izuku will most likely have near death experiences, but that does not mean their future king should have to die.
Bakugou Katsuki; he was close to becoming captain of the army. He has always wished to help protect the kingdom and serve the royal line. He sat next to Izuku, doing his best to stare straight ahead with a scolding look permanent on his face.
(Bakugou is still pissed that Izuku is technically the prince now.)
Uraraka Ochako; a soldier in training that was raised in a poor family. She has multiple talents, but most importantly she is an expert with Medicine and Healing. She sat across from Izuku, looking out of the carriage window in wonder.
Iida Tenya; He could become the Prince’s one right hand man. He has many great qualities which will help the prince with whatever he needs. He’s also the one with the most logical ability out of all of them. He is there to make sure Izuku doesn’t get into too much trouble. He sits next to Uraraka with his arms crossed, always staring at the prince.
This is not only a chance for Izuku to grow stronger, but his friends as well. If they do a good job according to Izuku’s opinion, then he has the power to accept them into the kingdom for what they have been training for.
Izuku doesn't mind the company. He and Uraraka had already hit it off well, Bakugou has gotten better over the years and Iida has been by his side for as long as Izuku has had his magic.
“Which kingdom will we first stop at, by the way?” Izuku wonders aloud.
Iida, of course, is the first to respond. “We will stop at the Endeavor Kingdom first. I am certain we have just a few hours left to go, your highness.”
Izuku cringed. He still wasn’t used to being called “Your Highness” after all these years. It felt wrong. “Don’t treat me as royalty once we get to the kingdom. I want to be seen as a normal person.”
Besides, The Yuuei Kingdom and the Endeavor Kingdom have bad history. How would they react to finding out a prince from their kingdom is within their walls?
***
Of course the first thing that happens to Izuku once he reaches the kingdom is to be seated in the top rows of a Battle Arena.
With his soldiers sitting by his side, Izuku leaned over the rail and watched as an older, dirtier looking man was standing against the wall of the left side of the arena. On the opposite end of him, a dragon was struggling in his chains.
Izuku is honestly shocked and impressed, how could they have tamed a dragon?
Before the chains of the dragon were released and the crowd became too loud with cheers of excitement, a man came to the center and yelled about the proceedings.
“This is the first round of competing for the Prince’s hand! If he can beat this round, he will be eligible for the second round! Will he be able to be the few who passes to the next round?”
Oh, so there’s a competition for the prince’s hand? Looking around, Izuku looks to find the prince.
Finally, once he looked up, he saw an elegant, obviously royal family standing together at a balcony not too far from the stage.
He saw the famous king, Endeavor, with his fire mustache, beard and eyebrows on full display. He stood proud with heavy, giant metal armor around his body. In the very intentional cracks of the suit, it showed an orange glow, which means Endeavor has his fire magic on underneath his suit.
Beside him, a man stood. He was short, but he was intimidating nonetheless. Instead of the bright red his father wore, the prince wore a calming blue, collared shirt with golden buttons and designs. He had long, white sleeves that ruffled out near his wrist. Izuku couldn’t see the rest of his outfit, but he is certain that it looked just as elegant as what he sees now.
The prince looked like a beautiful snow angel. Although part of his hair is red, and his eye is scarred with a bright, red mark, he was undeniably beautiful.
Izuku suddenly felt insecure of his own green commoner outfit, but it was the only way to help him fit in with everyone else.
When the match began, Izuku tore his eyes away from the prince and towards the rough-looking man. The man held a sword high over his head, and even though the dragon was out of his restraints, the dragon did not move.
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and next to him he heard Bakugou scoff.
“That dragon doesn't wanna fight,” Bakugou says matter-of-factly.
Izuku watched the dragon closely and he noticed that yeah, the dragon held his own position as the man charged at him.
Before the man got too close, though, the dragon let out a roar and charged forward. The man underestimated the dragon, so he began to back away. He still looked determined to win, though.
The dragon was breathing fire and thankfully the seats were far away enough for the people to be safe. Though, the same couldn’t be said for the man getting attacked. Already he had burns on his body, and he looked close to giving up.
Izuku looks up at the prince. Izuku expected to find the boy looking bored, or sadistic, but he was shocked to see his eyebrows knitted together as he focused on the fight before him. The prince almost seemed to be concerned.
The prince doesn’t seem to be enjoying the match, but his father definitely was.
The man on the ground was swinging the sword around in all sorts of directions, trying to at least scratch the dragon, but it isn’t working. The dragon used its tail to swing the man across the stadium and into the cement wall.
He head splattered to bits. Blood was inked onto the cement and even when his body crumbled towards the floor like a limp rag doll, his blood and bits of brain remained.
The dragon was led back into its chambers, and the crowd was roaring with excitement.
Izuku didn’t find it within himself to be happy for such a match. Not only was it cruel to watch a man be killed by a dragon, but the dragon isn’t happy, neither is the prince.
***
Finding an Inn wasn’t difficult. They paid for a room, and they were on their way.
Well, almost.
Izuku couldn’t help but eavesdrop on people telling a tale, so he decided to stay in the room where everyone ate. Uraraka and Bakugou went to bed while Iida stayed with him to make sure he’s okay.
Izuku sat at the table hosted by the adventurers with a mug of beer in hand. Iida stood by his side, tense and ready to protect him if needed.
Immediately, he was pulled into conversation. It was a man with blonde hair, and strangely enough, a black lightning bolt embedded into his hair.
“Hello, newcomer. I ain’t never seen you ‘round here before,” the man said, not unkindly. “The name’s Kaminari Denki,”
Sitting up straighter in his seat with newfound confidence, Izuku smiles. “Yeah, We’re just passing through.”
Everyone around the table hums. Then, a woman with dark skin and brown, curly hair says, “Don’t stay for too long now. This kingdom will eat ya’ right up,”
The table murmured agreements and lifted their mugs in the air as a toast. Hesitating, Izuku brought his mug up and they all messily cheered and took a swig of their beers.
Clearing his throat, Izuku placed his mug onto the wooden table and looked around at the people around him. “What do you mean?” He asks, curiosity piqued.
A man with black hair and tanned skin speaks now. “You watched what happened at the arena, no?” Izuku took note of his thick accent, and quickly he nodded. “That’s what happens if you want to marry the prince. It’s like a challenge of sorts.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, didn't ya’ see? That dragon killed that man. That dragon usually kills everybody that shows up. Very few have made it to the second challenge, and not a soul has ever entered the third challenge,” Kaminari said. His face wrinkled in distaste. “This kingdom ain’t normal.
“Does.. Does the prince want this to happen?”
There are a few shrugs around the table. “I heard that ever since the boy turned twelve years of age, the king started the trials,”
Izuku tried to hide his face of shock by bringing the cup of beer up to his lips. Even the beer began to taste bitter. How could someone be so willing to give up their kid so quickly?
Unless… The king began so early because he knew barely anyone could fight the dragon and survive. But why? Why would he want people to die over a marriage proposal?
Around the table, the friendly strangers also took swigs of their beer and bites of their food to avoid speaking. “How did they tame the dragon?” Izuku asks.
This time, a new voice spoke up. This man had long, black hair and tired eyes. “The king defeated the dragon before the trails began. The dragon stays inside the dungeon of the arena.”
The dragon.. Izuku knows it was sad. He knew it would be. Dragons are meant to fly around, look for jewels and protect them. They’re meant to nest and to be free. Not to be cooped up in an arena for entertainment. That dragon didn't want to kill people. He could see it in the reluctance of trying to hurt the man from earlier that day.
“The king sounds horrible,” Izuku huffs, sinking deeper into his chair.
Kaminari groans. “Tell me about it!”
Izuku raised his eyebrow in question. It sounded as if the king had personally wronged the man. Good thing Izuku didn’t have to ask anyone about it, as the woman with golden brown skin began to speak soon after.
“The king saw our ship approaching the kingdom by waters and he ordered his own crew to sink it. All of our riches, our maps, everything previous to us is now at the bottom of the ocean,” She slams her fist down onto the table in anger, and Izuku felt sympathy for the group.
“We lost crew that day,” the tan skinned man said. “We are all that’s left.”
“He said he thought we were an enemy ship and he’d help us, but he hasn’t gotten back to us. It’s been a few months by now.” The tired man said, his eyes almost looking like they were glowing red with anger.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but why not just travel on land?” Iida suggests.
The tired man looks at Iida as if he had just processed that he was here. “We don’t have money to pay for anything. The only thing the king has done to help us is allow us to stay in the Inn for one more month, and yet he hasn’t helped us with our boat situation at all. Surely, he has enough ships to spare us one. He is one of the richest Kings in this continent.”
Slowly, Izuku could feel his blood begin to boil with rage. How could the king not care for the lives of the people he’s ruined?
The rest of the night the strangers became friends, and they all spoke about the things they’ve seen and witnessed on water. Kaminari believes in siren and Aizawa believes in the Kraken.
Once the sky began to shine with the light of the stars, and the room began to empty, Iida and Izuku walked back to their own rooms.
“Your highness, please don’t think of doing anything stupid.” Iida said, before bidding him goodnight.
Izuku turned the handle to his own room and stepped in. Getting dressed, Izuku thought of the sad prince, the sad dragon and his new friends. Somehow, he knows that he has to help them. And all of the horrible things that happened are pointing directly towards the King.
***
It’s different standing in the arena than sitting within the crowd. In the crowd, people scream for blood or mercy. In the arena, the air smells different. It smells denser and more like death. Izuku looks around and spots his men. They sat together, Bakugou unsuccessfully trying to seem disinterested while Uraraka and Iida almost looked like they were going to begin crying.
Then, looking up at the balcony, he caught the eye of the prince. He looked down at Izuku with
too much intensity. He had his father’s gaze, of course. Where had that look from yesterday gone?
He remembered yesterday’s events. When he told his friends of his plans of accepting the challenge for the prince’s hand, they all profusely disagreed with the idea. How horrendous! So absurd! Too dangerous!
Try all they might, and boy did they try, but Izuku was not going to be stopped. They realized this soon, so they set out to at least try to keep their prince as their future king.
Bakugou gave him the most helpful advice. The dragon was hesitant in advancing towards the people he was supposed to fight, so Izuku would need to use the dragon’s reluctance for fighting to his advantage.
The following morning, Izuku walked to the knights that protected the castle. He explained that he wanted to qualify to fight the dragon in the grand arena. Of course they could not decline the request, so the knights told him to wait as they asked the king for permission in advancement. When the knights returned, the answer had to be yes.
The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was turning into a beautiful shade of gold and pink that melted into one another. Izuku wished he could appreciate the view, but as much as he prides himself in his bravery, he cannot hide the anxiety that shook him to the bone. He has never faced a dragon before.
The rusted, iron gate that held the dragon behind bars slowly opened, revealing the beautiful, red dragon with all of its glory. The creature stood unmoving. Behind the dragon, Izuku saw the men behind him raise a metal rod to swing at him.
The dragon is whipped until it is forced out of the containment it traps itself within.
The men backed up from behind the dragon. The dragon stood outside of the gate’s now, though never moving a muscle towards Izuku. Izuku was the same way. He stood with all the confidence he could muster and looked straight into the crimson eyes of the dragon.
The dragon doesn’t move for a while, and the crowd begins to get restless. They scream at him to stop wasting their time, but never once does Izuku break eye contact with the scarlet dragon.
Upon entering the arena, Izuku chose to not use any of the weapons that were recommended for him. He did not see the need to slash the dragon nor impale it. Besides, practically Izuku’s entire body could be a weapon if needed. He’s sure he would be able to defeat a dragon with just himself.
Though, he was still required to carry a shield to protect himself from the dragon’s fire.
Soon, the crowd became angrier, and they threw objects such as rocks or food. Honestly they began throwing anything that they could get their hands on.
If anything, Izuku should have gotten something to protect himself against the violence of the crowd.
Izuku was receiving rashes from the stones, and he’s certain there will be bruising scattered across his body by tomorrow morning.
All while Izuku received the butting end of the violence, he still doesn’t dare break eye contact with the Dragon.
Only when a sharp, stoned knife whirls right past Izuku’s head from the crowd did the dragon finally let out a loud, mighty roar.
The crowd goes ecstatic. They cheer louder than Izuku has ever heard them cheer, and Izuku braces himself as he waits for the dragon to charge at him.
The dragon stomps for him. Izuku noticed the long, black chain tightly wrapped around his back leg.
Izuku won’t lie to himself; his stomach lurches forward with anxiety. He’s terrified. He’s never faced a dragon before. Other creatures, of course, but that was also when he was still with All Might. It’s been three days since he left Yuuei and he is already fighting a dragon.
Swallowing down his anxiety, Izuku powered up One For All. He knows what he should do; so he waits until the dragon is just close enough. He felt the power course through his veins, power surging through every part of his body.
It may sound egoistic, but Izuku loves the thrill of using his power. He loves using his power for others to see; he loved feeling powerful and capable of doing something.
The dragon turns its body to the side at the last minute, brown dust flying towards Izuku. It flings its tail at Izuku. He immediately uses his magic to power jump over the tail coming to him, causing him to land on the other side of the arena.
The crowd cheers for blood. In their excitement, they threw things into the arena’s grounds. Food, rocks, weapons, whatever they had on them.
The dragon turns around so that it’s facing Izuku. When their eyes meet, the dragon lets out another roar. The ground shakes with the vibration of sound. The dragon charged at him again, the ground shaking more earnestly than it had ever previously done before. The dragon opens its mouth wide and Izuku only has a second to think.
Izuku uses One For All to run from the flames that were now shooting out of the dragon’s mouth. He runs around the stadium, jumps onto walls from left and right, just as Torino has taught him. Though, the dragon kept its mouth open as he moved around in a circle, trying to hit the freckled man below.
Izuku believed he was doing well so far, he really did, but the universe had to prove to him once again that such confidence is not allowed for the poor prince.
Just as he was jumping back into the air, the fire found its way towards his leg and Izuku fell to the ground, his magic shielding its sparks away from the surface of his skin. He gags and gasps for breath when his back comes into contact with the dirty ground, tasting the foul taste of metallic blood in the back of his throat.
He has to ignore and push through, though, so he shakily looks up from where he had landed on his back and saw the dragon standing in the middle of the arena, staring down at him.
The dragon almost looked smug, as if it was saying, “Ha! You thought you could defeat me, but your games are now over, human.”
Izuku hated that expression.
Izuku had one chance to get this right. If he gets the timing wrong, he could die. Wincing, Izuku shakily stood back onto his feet. When he tried standing, though, he realized that his adrenaline had been put to rest, so he could feel the scorching, burnt skin attached to his leg. He yelps and almost kneels forward, but he clumsily caught himself by leaning onto his other leg just in time.
He slowly stands back up and decides to put less pressure onto his fried leg.
He would have to do most of the work with his good leg, then.
The dragon was stomping towards him now. If the dragon didn’t have their wings chained together, Izuku is sure the dragon would have been flying towards him by now—or even flying away from this arena, far away and free once again as it should be. No matter the situation, dragons would always be quicker in the sky.
The dragon’s feet lifted up slowly and romped onto the ground each time it walked. Izuku is sure he is tormenting him by now, almost like it was poking fun at the injuries Izuku took that would make him even slower than before.
After a few moments of watching the dragon, and trying to make it seem like Izuku had given up, he knew that it was time.
Izuku mustered up as much power as he could and quickly jumped to the side of the walls that separates the fight from the audience. He squats down, his limbs crunched down together, then he jumps off the wall. In half a second, he was already in the air, looking down on the dragon from below.
From this high up, Izuku could see the heads of everyone in the stadium. He was even higher than the king and prince themselves, and he couldn’t help but let out a gleeful laugh.
The dragon, with reflexes slow, didn’t have time to look around for the human that disappeared faster than a fly. Izuku quickly zoomed down towards the dragon. He swung his leg back behind himself, then once he was close enough, he swung his leg forward and—
The powerful dragon turns around, meets Izuku’s eyes, and the scales around the dragon seems to sharpen and glisten more under the sun.
Izuku kicks the dragon, but the dragon wasn’t as soft as he thought it would be. The skin was hard, and not even a scratch was created under his foot.
This is when Izuku knew that he missed his chance.
The dragon could burn him to dust now. Izuku will become nothing more than ash and he’ll die at the mercy of a dragon.
Except—that doesn’t happen.
Instead, the dragon stares at Izuku for a moment, then brings its tail and swats Izuku towards the opposite end of the arena.
Izuku, dazed and flying towards his momentarily doom, closes his eyes.
He could die like this, like the man from yesterday. There won’t be any pain for longer than a split second, if any. His brain will explode under his skull and he will never see the light of day. Never see his mother again, nor Toshinori, Uraraka, Iida, Bakugou..
“Don’t give up!”
Izuku’s eyes shot open, and the magic that made its home underneath his veins electrified to life. He doesn’t know who said that, nor does he know how he could hear the words with the wind rattling in his ears and the crowds defeating scream for violence.
But, what Izuku does know is that he doesn’t want to die this way. Was he really so close to giving up? Wasn't he taught any better?
Izuku turned around in the middle of the air, facing the wall now.
The wall was so close that he would have had only seconds left to save himself.
Lifting his hand up, he connects his middle finger with his thumb and as soon as he could almost taste the wall, he flicks.
The arena walls crack under the unbelievable amount of power that was released just from Izuku’s fingers and suddenly Izuku was back propelling through the air. He flips back around, his eyes straight on the merciless dragon.
He was only following intuition now.
The dragon stood, almost as if it were waiting for Izuku, and surely the dragon has no idea what is about to become of it.
When the dragon opens its mouth, Izuku already had his hand outstretched towards the dragon, then he flicks again. He flicks his power into the mouth of the monster.
The dragon is pushed back from the power, but not by much. The dragon closed its mouth and choked on the extra air that traveled into its lungs.
This was his chance.
An inch away from the dragon’s face, Izuku pulls back both of his fists and punches the dragon right in both of the eyes.
The dragon lets out a roar, a roar louder than any of the roars Izuku has heard so far. Izuku landed on the other side of the arena, gladly putting distance between them.
The dragon tries to rub its pain away by nuzzling their face into the ground of the arena and Izuku almost feels bad for the creature.
Almost.
The dragon wasn’t paying attention, so he had to capitalize off the dragon’s lack of attention.
Izuku runs at the dragon as fast as he could with an injured leg. He jumps into the air and pulls his leg behind him, aiming to kick the dragon into the ground. The dragon doesn’t look up while Izuku swings his leg down and uses all the magic he can muster into his uninjured leg.
Izuku kicks the dragon in the back of his neck in an effort to knock him unconscious. Izuku doesn’t know how hard he can hit a dragon without the thing passing out, but Izuku hopes he didn’t use too much force. He didn’t want to hurt it more than he should.
The dragon, who was caught off guard, falls to the ground. From the impact of the fall, the dry dirt immediately creates a brown fog that covers both Izuku and the dragon away from the view of the audience.
Stepping back, Izuku waits to see if the dragon tries to get back up.
It doesn’t.
***
Izuku is escorted into the castle with his knights by his side after the fight.
This meant he was worthy of meeting the king and prince and be told of the next task.
“Not many people have passed the first challenge,” the Endeavorian Knight says as if they were attempting conversation. Izuku remains quiet, seeing no point in small talk.
He doesn’t care about being praised for defeating a dragon. He just wants to meet the king and prince now.
While walking through corridors, Izuku notices how dark and cold it is within the castle walls. It was spring, so the sharp, winter air shouldn’t feel so prominent anymore, but it seems that coldness is trapped within the cracks of the castle grounds and walls. There are large windows that peer over the kingdom that are lined up on the hall's walls, but it didn’t stop the darkness that lived inside the red and golden halls.
Iida and Bakugou walked on both sides of him while Uraraka walked behind him. The hall looked the same on every wall. A few human bodies statues standing against the wall every now and then, the walls being red with golden and black patterned littered across, portraits of all the royals that ever lived here, and doors that led to other rooms of the castle or another hallway that led to a different part of the castle.
It didn’t take long for the Knight to guide them to tall, red double doors outlined in gold.
“You will find the king and prince behind this door. Only the participant can enter now. Come, friends of participant’s, I must take you to your rooms,”
Izuku spared a look at each of his comrades, and he nodded. Izuku can take care of himself for now.
One of the Endeavorian knights opened the door for him. His body felt lighter now, and with shaking nerves, he walked in with the unknown knight by his side. He doesn't spare a look back towards his own people as the doors closed behind him.
The Throne Room was huge, yet beautiful. The room was spacious enough to fit everyone from the stadium in here comfortably. The ceiling was high up, shaped into a dome with windows all across so light from the sun surrounds the room. There are pillars that connected to curved half walls and below the curve were giant statues that looked too human to be fake. Izuku walked on a long, red rug with the knight next to him. Across the room, there were a set of steps that led to four thrones. A lion statue is presented beside the set of stairs beside both sides of the railing.
“I do not know where you come from, but respect the king or I will surely show you no mercy and kill you here by my own hand.”
Izuku is already nervous enough, so hearing these words raised his own nerves tremendously. Once he and the knight were both at the first step, they both dropped to their knees. Izuku placed hand over his heart as he lowered his head. “Your highness, please pardon my intrusion,”
The king grunts in response and Izuku stays kneeling. After a few moments, the king says, “Raise your head, participant. Tell me, what are you called?”
Izuku slowly gets back to his feet, his body still trembling from the inside. The knight remains bowed, not acknowledged by the king. “People call me Midoriya Izuku, your highness,”
The king says nothing as his eyes rank down Izuku’s body. Izuku feels uncomfortable at his look of satisfaction. “Your power—It is not common, especially for a peasant. Who are you, really?” The king pressed, a crease in his brow.
Izuku bows at a perfect angle, his arm stretched behind his back. “I’ve told you the truth, your highness. My name is Midoriya Izuku.”
“I haven’t seen powerful magic like that in years, boy. Do you dare lie to the face of the king?”
Dread fills Izuku’s gut, and Izuku doesn’t speak this time. He continues with his bow, and he’s sure the king is about to order for the knight next to him to take him away, but a new, gentle voice speaks up.
“Calm down, father. Your reach for conclusions are always too baffling. How are we sure that this commoner is a liar?”
“You saw his power, Shouto.”
“His magic doesn’t need your suspicions. Izuku Midoriya, raise your head,”
Izuku does as he is told, and he is met with the beautiful prince he has heard stories about all of his life. His eyes sharp and his back standing tall. Today, the prince wore a white, ruffled suit with a matching white and blue feather robe over his back.
Izuku knew that this man was the most beautiful man he has ever seen. He quite literally brightened the room with just his mere presence.
He was enchanting. The scar did nothing to remove his beauty. In fact, it most likely made his face more interesting. His face was round and looked like marble. The prince’s skin was Snow White in contrast to Izuku's own dark skin.
Izuku was so focused on the beauty of the prince that he was startled when Endeavor’s deep, graveling voice spoke once more. Now, the king was speaking directly to him. “You are to stay the night in this castle. There will be a feast prepared in a few hours, and tomorrow you will part at dusk towards the next challenge.”
“And will I be able to know what the challenge is before then?” Izuku asks.
The king says, “You will be sailing with Shouto and I to an island far from this land. On that island, all sorts of creatures lurk. Your task is to find the bones of a fairy.”
Izuku tried not to let the disbelief show on his face, but that… that’s impossible.
“You may be taken to your room now…”
Izuku opened his mouth to agree, but the king spoke again. “Unless you are ready for your first prize,” the king said.
“Prize?”
The atmosphere in the room quickly changed. The Prince glares at his father, a resenting scowl edging onto his face. Izuku felt singled out from not knowing about the prize, so he anxiously switched his weight between his legs as he waited for the King’s next response.
“Well, since you completed the first task, you could spend the night with Shouto in his own bed chambers for the night.” the king says.
Is the king implying what he thinks he is?
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows together and he spares another look at the prince.
He didn’t look strong or like royalty right now. He looks like a boy trying not to curse his father.
Izuku looks back at the king. Did he let every contestant who completed the first task sleep with his son? Isn’t that… Wrong? How would Shouto feel about being used in such a way?
Quickly, so it didn’t seem as if he were hesitating on his answer, he shook his head.
“I would much rather be taken to my own room,” Izuku responds.
The king tsked. “Yaoyarozu, take this boy to where he will be sleeping.”
The Knight beside him said, “Yes, your highness,” and carefully stood up. They turned to Izuku and nodded their head towards the door, a gesture for him to follow. With one last bow towards the king and prince, Izuku turned around and quickly fell into step with the knight.
***
Izuku laid in his bed with thoughts of the day spiraling through his head. What could he have done better? What were the wrong moves he made?
It wasn’t time for dinner yet, but he was starving. Izuku has only been in his room for an hour, but for him it felt like a lifetime. Would they allow him to leave for some fresh air? They never said he couldn’t. It’s not late yet.
Besides, this is a castle! What could he run into that would go wrong?
So, Izuku stood up. He pulled his shoes back onto his feet and he walked towards the door. Opening it, he saw the corridors lit in an orange flame. The windows across his room show that the sun is above the horizon, almost a sunset. He looked around and saw no knights that were able to stop him.
Izuku walked out of his room and shut the door behind him. He walked down the hallway he didn’t come from previously. Though, he found nothing but a lonely balcony.
Izuku stepped outside and breathed in the air. Any minute the sky will turn to a dark blue. He’s been away from Yuuei for five days now. He wonders how Toshinori and his mother are doing. He already missed both of them dearly.
He still remembers when Toshinori brought him to the library to speak over tea. They sat in cushioned chairs with a small desk in between them. They were talking about how far Izuku has come since they met. Then, they went to the topic of Toshinori’s age.
He’s getting old, Izuku knows that. In a few years, he could become nothing but shriveled bones waiting for death. Izuku doesn’t want to talk about it, but if he keeps putting Toshinori off… Then when? When will Izuku ever talk about it? So, Izuku listens.
Toshinori tells Izuku he needs to start planning on leaving Yuuei. It’s time for him to go on the adventure of his life before he faced the responsibilities of becoming a King.
Izuku knew this day was coming… But he didn’t expect it so soon. He knows Toshinori is right, though.
Izuku missed the small smile he received from his mentor when he entered the carriage. He remembers looking in the back window and watching his mother and Toshinori disappear from view.
He couldn’t cry. He has to change. He has to be fit for taking care of a kingdom.
Izuku deeply breathes in, and lets it go. He can’t reminiscent now. Feeling as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders, Izuku heads back inside and back down the corridor. He doesn’t really know where he’s going, but he supposes that’s how exploring works. He passed his room and made it down a few flights of stairs. He walked through what seemed to be mazes of hallways and shortly after seeing the same wall patterns, He was in the middle of what seems to be a ballroom.
Strangely enough, the room was freezing cold—as if nobody had set foot inside the room for years. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, dust stuck to the floor and it’s so dark. It’s too bad, the ballroom could have been beautiful.
Izuku makes it out of the ballroom, but he stops in his tracks.
He reached a splitting hallway. The interior was different, the wall made of stone and the windows off to the left side were narrowed and tall enough that it reached the ceiling. It was colder there than it was in the ballroom and Izuku shivered as breaths of cold air escaped his mouth.
Slowly, Izuku pushes his feet to walk forward, but he isn’t sure where he would go. He’s nervous and he doesn’t want to get lost.
“What are you doing?” A voice asked.
Izuku, already shaken up to begin with, practically jumps out of his body. Izuku swiftly turns around, his magic already burning under his skin when he realized—
It was the prince.
“Oh!” Izuku exclaimed, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, your highness,” he quickly bows.
The prince sighs. “Please, stand up straight. It was my fault; and tell me, what are you doing here?”
Izuku slowly stands up. Izuku was startled with the prince standing so close to him. His skin was a fair, porcelain, as if his skin had never soaked beneath a scathing sun. His skin was almost clear of blemishes, but the scar resting over half of his face was its own story to tell. His two toned hair should be impossible for a human, yet here he is, standing in front of Izuku, with the moonlight shining diamonds in his two-different colored irises.
He screamed royalty, he screamed enchanting, he screamed ethereal .
Izuku felt poor within his presence, though he knows he’s not. He, himself, is a prince of course, but that’s a secret. He still dresses like a peasant, he still acts like a peasant, and he’s technically been a peasant for half of his life. Inside of him, he will always have the personality of a peasant. Who is he to become prince, when marvelous royals such as Todoroki Shouto exist?
The Prince still stares at him, his expression unreadable. Izuku almost forgotten about his previous question. “Oh, I’m sorry.. I was just..” searching through your castle for secrets, or secret passageways. “ Bored, so I took a walk to clear my head.”
Shouto raises an eyebrow. “You walked around the castle?”
Immediately, Izuku blushes. He doesn’t have a response, so he brought his hand up to scratch behind his head awkwardly.
Shouto ignores his awkward state, and asks, “Are you sure you can continue with these missions?”
Izuku, caught off guard by the Prince’s change of subject, croaks out an unresponsive answer.
The Prince doesn’t say anything, but he averts his eyes to stare behind Izuku. “You’re too soft. Most people can’t be soft when trying to complete these tasks.”
Izuku tries not to feel offended, but he couldn’t help the way it felt like he jabbed his gut. Curious, Izuku asks, “Why do you think that?”
Shouto doesn’t seem to be phased by Izuku questioning his thoughts, so he speaks. “No offense to you, but you are just a common peasant. Kings and Queens have crossed the seas to try to win my hand, but they have never succeeded. They were much more equipped than you, so I wonder..” His voice is soft, yet it still echoed across the hall. It seemed like the prince was born to speak, to have his thoughts heard and appreciated. “Why do you think you can win?”
Izuku doesn’t have an answer for the prince. He knows why he’s doing this, but if he explained about the adventure…
Izuku has no intention of marrying the prince, but if he can somehow get him to smile… To look happy, maybe that could be his reward for a great adventure.
“I think,” Izuku starts, gnawing on his bottom lip. “I think I can win because I am not doing this for marriage, whereas everyone else did.”
Izuku does not know if this was the correct answer, or if he even thought it was entirely true, but it did hold some truth to his words. He can’t die, no matter what, because he needs to go back to Toshinori and his mother with the most spectacular story about an adventure that he can talk about for hours.
The prince’s eyes pinched together. Izuku expects Prince Shouto to demand him to leave the castle if he doesn't wish to marry him, however, he’s met with a sight of a small upturn of the lips from the other. “This next task will eat you alive.” He says.
Izuku looked up at the prince with what he hoped was a determined look on his face. “Let it,” he says, his tongue swiping over his lips for a moment. “I don’t think I’ll be very easy to digest.”