Chapter Text
Katsuki knew he should be paying attention to what his parents were babbling about, he knew it must be this important life-or-death situation for them to actually pull him from his evening sword training. However, Katsuki couldn’t care less, he was sweating and pissed off.
The old hag knew how much Katsuki hated having his schedule changed last minute but, like always, she didn’t give a shit. And, if she was going to be an asshole, Katsuki was going to be a bigger one. He could tune in whenever he picked up something that was actually important. So far, they were just stalling and wasting his precious time.
Katsuki started counting to twenty in his head. If his parents didn’t spit out what they wanted to say in twenty seconds, he was out of there. He couldn’t waste the whole day standing like a moron in the middle of the throne room, he had shit to do. He couldn’t afford to be like his parents, all day perched on their ridiculous thrones listening to people talk their ears off to do this instead of that, more like puppets than leaders. Katsuki never wanted to be like that, when he is King, he’s not going to be like them, he’s going to be better, much better, the best. He’s going to be the best fucking King his country or the others had ever seen. But for that to happen, he needed to train, like he would normally be doing right now if his mother hadn’t interrupted. The twenty seconds passed and Katsuki just turned on his heels and started walking away.
‘What do you think you are doing, brat?’ snarled the old hag, interrupting his father’s neverending rambling.
‘I’ll come back when you actually have something important to tell me, geez.’
‘See? I told you, Masaru. We can’t be considerate with the unrefined gremlin we have for our son.’ The old hag was really testing her luck today. ‘Being direct is the best approach with this one if we want anything to go through that thick skull of his.’
‘Dear, I don’t think…’
‘Spit it out already, for fucks sake!’ At this point, Katsuki had already lost the little patience he had, he just wanted to go back to his training.
‘It’s official, Shigaraki Tomura has declared war on Yuuei and all their allies.’
Katsuki had to fight with every fiber in his body not to smile like a mad man. It had finally happened, after all these years of cowardly attacking them by surprise and manipulating his way into getting allies, he finally had the guts to make it official. They were at war. Katsuki was practically vibrating with excitement, why hadn’t his parents told him directly? These were the best news he had gotten all year. All his battle training would finally be put to the test for real.
‘When are we leaving then?’ Katsuki’s voice was far too full of glee for someone who had just discovered his whole kingdom was under attack by association. ‘I can have Howitzer ready in less than half an hour, but it depends on how far we’re going.’
‘Wait, Katsuki, where exactly do you want to go?’
‘To lead the front lines, of course.’ Katsuki looked at his parent’s dumb faces with sudden frustration. ‘Where else would I be going when we are officially at war? That’s my place as prince and future king.’
Katsuki could see the mocking grin waiting to happen in the old hag’s face. ‘We are not there yet, sweetie.’
Katsuki had to contain himself not to scowl at his mother’s words but he couldn’t control the accusatory tone of his voice.
‘They have attacked us for years, they have threatened us and terrorized our people and now that they have finally decided to make it official you want to wait? For what? For them to take advantage of us once more?’ Katsuki knew he should control his temper and his volume if he wanted to get his way but his parents' idiocy was nerve-wracking. How could they not see they couldn’t wait?
‘We are not strong enough on our own to dive directly into this war, son.’ His father, always the peaceful force between Katsuki and his mother, was trying to find a middle ground before they tore each other apart. ‘That’s why we have asked the Council of the Five Kingdoms to reunite. We need to strengthen our relationship with our allies and prepare an united front against the League of Villains. That’s the only way we can win.’
His father thought he was so damn smart, didn’t he? He thought he knew him so damn well. The bastard thought that if he threw the word ‘win’ in the middle of his pathetic discourse, Katsuki wouldn’t notice what it would take to obtain that victory. Like he would let that slide.
The Council of the Five Kingdoms was the oldest and biggest alliance ever created between the five main kingdoms of their land: Uravity, Endeavor, Riot, Yuuei and themselves, Dynamight.
They weren’t on good terms with each other, by any means, but they were all forced to coexist and help each other in times of needs, as stated by the Treaty of One for All, that they all signed centuries ago.
The tales recount that before the Treaty of One for All was signed and the Council was created the Five Kingdoms were at constant war with each other, their rulers always hungry for more land or ready to act out of pettiness or vengeance against each other. Their citizens lived in permanent darkness, fearful of their own rulers and with constant uncertainty over where their next meal would come from.
That was until a young Yuuein entered the palace of his country and kneeled before his king in complete submission. The young boy pleaded to the king to stop fighting. He talked about his poor family and his poor village and the despair of his people, tears streaming across his face. He was desperate and this was his last resort. The passion of the young boy moved the old and tired king and he yielded, he surrendered to the boy’s sincere pleas.
A poor farmer’s boy made a king stop a war with his tears.
After that encounter, the old king visited each kingdom of the land and he kneeled before each and every king or queen he had previously tried to attack. He talked to them about a poor boy’s desperation and power’s blindness until he softened their hearts. It took many trips and many hours-long audiences, but, finally, the king was able to reunite every ruler under the same roof. That first reunion was marked as the first Council of the Five Kingdoms. On the second reunion, they redacted and signed the Treaty of All for One.
From that moment on, they were to live in peace with one another and help their neighbours in case of need. Not once since that moment have any of the kingdoms broken that promise.
It was also said that the old king of Yuuei chose as his successor that young crying farmer’s boy despite his own children. They say the boy was so grateful to the old king that he honored his actions and, on his deathbed, chose his wife’s young and kind lady in waiting as the next ruler of the country. And so on, that tradition has survived until the present, until the current heir of Yuuei. Until the vain of Katsuki’s existence. Katsuki hasn’t seen him since before he was chosen as heir and he wasn’t planning on seeing him anytime soon.
However, it seemed that the universe was a fucker and had other plans.
‘When are they coming?’ Katsuki managed to ask out loud without his voice failing miserably.
‘Less than three days.’ his dad replied with a sympathetic smile, the sly bastard. ‘It was an emergency meeting.’
Katsuki didn’t dignify that weak ass excuse with a reply. The young prince just looked up and down at his parents and turned around without a second thought. He exited the throne room, ignoring their calls and hardly resisted the temptation to flip them off.
Katsuki knew it would take no less than two weeks to go from Dynamight to Yuuei; it was impossible to travel between their palaces faster than that. His shitty parents had waited until the Yueein court was almost at their fucking door to inform him of the whole situation. Sneaky bastards, they didn’t want him to blow up or give him enough time to escape on an impromptu hunting trip.
As if he was the kind of cowardly little shit that did those things. Katsuki was the farthest thing from a coward. He didn’t run from things, he ran towards them head first. He would never run away just to avoid some green-haired loser. The fact that his parents thought he would was just another reason to be pissed as hell.
If he hadn’t left the throne room, he would have set it on fire. Fuck, he wanted to punch something.
Katsuki cracked his neck, as he often did when he was stressed, and started walking back towards the training facilities. He needed to release some of the tension that was starting to build up inside him or he was sure he would snap in half with all that pent up anger clouding his mind. His feet started to guide him towards the training fields without him realising, too caught up with his own thoughts.
The training fields were outside the castle, just next to the royal gardens, as it was the only place big enough inside the walls of the palace to build a little arena. They were a birthday present for him, when he turned thirteen and his parents decided it was time he had some space to practice with his sword and train with his powers properly and professionally. As well as the fact that they were tired of the young prince burning their precious tapestries on accident when training inside the castle.
Katsuki considered the arena the best present he’s ever received.Those fenced forty square metres were his little heaven when he needed to escape some boring task or the royal pain in the ass that could be his parents. No one dared to enter and disturb him for fear of ending up pulverized, apart from his training instructor and he was on thin ice the majority of the time, and he could just unwind by beating some shit up, like he very much needed right now. It was his perfect place.
Katsuki opened the gate to find the place exactly as he had left it before answering his parents' call. Somes half-burnt dummies were scattered inside the place around an improvised obstacle maze the prince had been trying to get through as fast as possible, surpassing his last mark each time. However, now he was not in the mood to play around, he didn’t have the patience for it either.
Right now, what he really needed was to actually use his hands to kick some ass or he would be restless until all the royal bastards arrived at the castle and, then, he would kick their asses. Katsuki only knew personally Deku out of all the royal brats, but he was sure the other three would be as whiny and pathetic as him. He was sure not one of them would be able to stand their ground against him in a real battle. His explosions would end them in less than a minute. Katsuki grinned, imagining the scene. He doubted that picking a fight with any of them would make the old hag very happy and that almost made him reconsider that option seriously.
Right now, he just wanted to do something to piss her off as much as she had pissed him off, looking down on him. Fuck, he really needed to punch something. Thankfully, he was in the best place for that. Not bothering to contain himself any longer, Katsuki cursed loudly and ran towards the nearest dummy, exploiting it to ashes with the powerful blast that erupted from his hands.
That was what he was talking about! He needed more of that, more of the destruction, the noise, the numbing sensation in his hands and head. It was thrilling.
He continued to burn the rest of the dummies, imagining they were his old hag, or his useless father, but, more often than not, they had Deku’s pathetic freckled face. Katsuki despised him even more than his old hag, and that was something.
It had been several years since Katsuki had last seen him, before All Might had appointed him his heir, when he was still as thin, short, apologetic and pathetic as they come. The last time they talked he was still a mere servant that looked up to him with sickening devotion. He was a kid that didn’t know his damm place and dared to dream bigger than what he could accomplish. He was delusional and Katsuki couldn’t stand the sight of him.
Now, so many years later, Katsuki was sure the loser was still as delusional as ever but he was no longer magic-less and he was a King, but not any king, he was The King of Yuuei, the biggest kingdom of them all. Now, Katsuki still couldn’t stand him but for an entirely different reason.
Meanwhile, Katsuki was just like when they last saw each other, he hadn’t advanced at all. He was supposed to be the strong one of the two and there he was, still just a prince obeying his mother’s orders.
How much he despised it all.
How much he despised the old hag for making him wait before attacking The League of Villains.
How much he despised having to deal with some royal brats the following days.
How much he despised having to see stupid Deku after all this time.
How much he despised having to see All Might at the right hand of Deku, like he deserved it all.
Katsuki had enough hatred bottled up inside himself to blow up the whole castle and several hectares more. But, no matter how much of his frustration he tried to express with his explosions, there always seemed to be more in his heart he could never get rid of. Not that Katsuki would ever stop trying, it still felt good.
Not paying attention, too engrossed in his thoughts, Katsuki created an explosion much bigger than what he originally wanted and ended up destroying half of the fence that separated the field from the gardens. Katsuki didn’t even flinch, he was still too furious to care.
That was the moment the hooded figure that had been lurking near the young prince decided to step in. He couldn’t let Katsuki destroy the Queen’s gardens in some thoughtless fit that he would regret not long after. The poor man sometimes felt more like a babysitter than an instructor and he was not getting paid enough for it.
Before the prince could land another shot to the fence, the last object standing in the arena for Katsuki to blow up, he felt his hands aching lightly. He knew that sensation very well at this point and it didn’t even surprise him, he had felt his presence coming closer.
Nonetheless, Katsuki snarled. ‘How many times do I have to fucking tell you to stop using that freakish power on me? Let me burn this shit up!’
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible, prince Bakugou.’ the monotone voice of his battle instructor said as he approached him from his little hideout. ‘I don’t want to have to get this rebuilt… again.’
‘What’s it to you?!?! As if you were the one who would have to do it!! Cut this shit right now and let me fight!’
‘That’s not fighting, prince Bakugou, that’s throwing a tantrum.’
‘I’ll fucking blow your head up.’
‘Charming.’ The man truly seemed to be bored with the conversation and that just made Katsuki even more mad. ‘Problem Prince, I just came here to tell you that your horse is ready in the barn.’
‘Go and die.’
Katsuki knew what he was trying to do. Fucking Aizawa and his obsession with making him deal with his anger in non-destructive ways. Always wanting to talk, always wanting to do fucking breathing excersices. Couldn’t he understand that sometimes what he truly needed was to blow shit up?
‘I think a stroll outside the walls of the palace might do you some good, Prince.’
That was Aizawa’s way of saying ‘take a breather and come back when you’re ready to be sensible’. Katsuki deepened his scowl as he realised he had no other way out. Aizawa would keep his powers muted if he insisted on blowing stuff up and there was a high chance he wouldn’t let him spar either. The best he could do was stomp away towards the barn as obviously angrily as possible and take his damm horse for a ride.
‘Fuck you.’
Howizter, as Aizawa had told him, was ready and waiting for him with disdain. His black maine freshly combed and his saddle properly adjusted. His horse was a force to be reckoned with, whereas in the middle of a battle or just for a simple walk. It had taken years for Katsuki to tame the beast enough to ride it without getting kicked down, but the horse still scowled at him everytime he approached. The old hag often joked about how much his horse was like him, a true match made in heaven.
Katsuki revised that everything was as he liked before getting on top of him. Howitzer side-eyed him but didn’t even attempt to get him off. Katsuki grinned softly and directed the horse towards one of the side gates of the fort.
If he was lucky enough, he would be able to get far enough from the castle, and the capital, and Aizawa’s powers, and everything. Wouldn’t that solve all his fucking problems? Just fleeing the country and never having to answer to his mother again or having to face fucking Deku. If only things were that easy.
And Katsuki never wanted easy anyway. He earned everything he got with pure determination and strength and this situation would be no different. Katsuki felt the wind playing with his hair and made Howitzer ride faster, until the wind deafened everything around him.
Katsuki had a new plan in mind. He would ride until his limbs trembled and his ears popped and, then, he was going back to the castle, head held high. He would march right back into the throne room with a perfect smile plastered on his face and he would talk with great politeness to the old hag. Katsuki needed to be on the hag’s good side if he wanted to attend the Council of the Five Kingdoms.
Only the Kings and Queens were allowed to partake in it and Katsuki was determined to be the first exception to that rule, whatever it took. His parents thought him an impulsive and violent brat but he would show them, not only them but the other leaders of the Five Kingdoms as well, how wrong they were.
He would show them that he was going to end the League of Villains and he would do it his way, the best way.
He would show the decrepit All Might how wrong he had been choosing Deku over him all those years ago.
He was going to be the one to save them.
He was going to be the best.
____________________________________________________________
Eijirou had lost count of how many hours straight they had been traveling. They had woken up in another random town at the crack of dawn and continued their journey, no stops, not even to have lunch.That has been his routine for the last two weeks and he couldn’t wait to finally arrive at Dynamight and get rid of the lethargy.
Eijirou was watching the trees and the fields with boredom. He didn’t like spending so much time cupped in such a tiny space with no liberty at all. He could practically feel his muscles twitching with restlessness. Eijirou just needed to move around a bit, to stretch his body, to sweat a little. He was afraid his body would forget how to move after so much time of just sitting around and watching the landscape through the window. Eijirou was not made to stay still.
Maybe, if he pleaded enough to his mothers, they would relent and let him spar with some of the royal guards before going to bed. It wasn’t very likely they would yield, after years of being exposed to his puppy eyes they were practically inmune, but it wouldn’t hurt him to try. He just needed a bit of practised violence to shake things up.
Eijirou sighed and looked around the interior of his carriage, to his best friends. He had asked them to accompany him in this journey to keep him company, but they were doing an awful job at it. They had been spending the majority of the trip sleeping, one on top of the other, intertwined, and snoring in each other’s ears. Mina and Denki were as restless as Eijirou was, so the prince had supposed that they would entertain him during the trip, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. The minute both of them entered the carriage, they fell asleep like babies. If Eijirou had known that all it took for them to relax a bit was a carriage ride, he would have taken them with him on royal trips much sooner.
However, despite it all, he was glad they were with him. He wouldn’t have wanted to face his first Council of the Five Kingdoms all by himself.
Even if he wasn’t attending the Council itself, he would have to attend once he became King and he wanted to prepare himself for it. Also, he would be meeting the crown princes and princesses from the other kingdoms, his future allies, for the first time too.
He knew he was prepared for it, he had studied and knew all that he had to know about all of them, but he still felt intimidated. They all seemed really impressive, from the soon-to-be Queen of Uravity despite her young age to the mysterious youngest sibling of the Endeavor kingdom who would be the one taking after his father despite his older brothers and sister. The young prince of Dynamight might be the one he was looking for the least to meet, due to his disastrous reputation, but Eijirou was never one to reject someone based on other people’s opinion. He was sure that even him would be extremely intelligent and fierce, breathtaking in his own almost destructive way. But the most impressive of them all wasn’t even a prince anymore, he was a King.
The King of Yuuei, Midoriya Izuku, was his age and he was already king, and a good king from what the rumours said. His coronation had been two years ago, just after he turned eighteen, and Eijirou wished he could have attended. Thankfully, his mom told him all about the ceremony and the ball. Eijirou knew the King was not very tall but well built, with unruly hair, freckles across his cheeks and kind green eyes. He had twenty years, no spouse, and would start to ramble about almost every topic he knew something about. They said he was gentle and a fair ruler. Midoriya Izuku seemed to be the perfect King at such a young age that made Eijirou feel like he didn’t measure up.
The young prince just wished that attending this Council and spending the following weeks with so many incredible people his age would help him be a better king in the future, be a better ruler for his people who only deserved the best.
‘What are you moping about this time?’ a groggy high-pitched voice caught his attention after what seemed like hours of daydreaming.
Eijirou looked again at Denki and Mina as they tried to disentangle themselves and stretch in the reduced space they were trapped in while yawning. Their eyes were still half-closed and they seemed more tired than before they went to sleep several hours ago. Eijirou smiled at them, happy to finally have some distraction from his thoughts.
‘I wasn’t moping.’
‘Yeah, you were. You had that kicked puppy look you get when you think too hard about something.’ Denki said as he stretched violently and his hand hit the roof of the carriage.
The blond winced and Eijirou’s smile widened. ‘Karma.’
‘Whatever you say, man.’ Denki said while massaging his hand and pouting like a little kid.
‘How long were we asleep?’ Mina asked, looking through the window feeling more awake as the seconds passed. ‘The sun will be setting in no time.’
‘I don’t know, I lost track of time, but I guess we’ll stop in the next suitable village to spend the night.’
‘Wow, the mumsies sure are in a hurry to get to Dynamight.’
‘Yeah, since they received the invitation from the Council they’ve been acting super weird.’ Denki agreed, side-eyeing Eijirou with a sly smile.
‘You guys think you’re so subtle.’ Eijirou grinned with amusement. ‘You know I can’t tell you what this is about because I have no idea. You think I could keep something this big from you guys if I knew?’
‘Yeah, yeah, we know you suck at keeping secrets.’ Mina stuck out her tongue and scrunched her nose with amusement. ‘I think that’s why the mumsies didn’t tell you, because they knew you’d babble it all to us.’
‘And you guys are even worse than me. In no time all of Riot would know whatever this is about.’
‘Wow, that hurt, bro.’
‘You know he’s right, Denki.’
‘I know but still.’
Eijirou tapped Denki’s leg with his foot. ‘We’ll know soon enough, once we are there.’
‘Do you think the other heirs will know already?’ Mina asked with clear excitement. She may have grown up in Riot’s castle, as the daughter of the Queens’ faerie, but she was always excited to be near new royals. ‘Do you think they’ll tell us if we ask nicely?’
‘You mean if you flirt with them enough?’ asked Eijirou with a knowing smirk.
‘Oi, I do not flirt, I’m just really good with people.’ Mina said with mocked offense.
‘Yeah, yeah, sure thing Mina. At least you’re not as painful to watch as other people I know…’
‘I feel targeted.’ Denki pouted for the second time since he had gotten up. ‘And I’m the best flirter out of the three of us, I’m the only one with a partner here!’
‘But not thanks to your lame pick up lines.’ Eijirou snickered.
‘Yeah, the poor thing didn’t know that dating you meant a lifetime of hearing things like ‘’your lips are kind of wrinkled. Mind if I press them?’’ ‘
‘Hey, it was our first kiss, I was nervous!’ Denki whined while a light blush appeared in his cheeks. ‘You would be too!’
‘Whatever helps you sleep at night, Denks.’
‘You guys are just jealous because you’re single and I have the hottest babe on earth.’ Denki kicked both of them for good measure while they still grinned with mockery.
Mina stuck out her tongue. ‘We don’t need men or women here, we have each other.’
‘Bros before hoes.’ Eijirou agreed, throwing his arm around Mina’s shoulder with a bit too much force, and a blinding smile.
‘Whatever helps you guys sleep at night.’
Now it was Denki’s turn to get kicked by his two best friends while they all laughed.
Eijirou was glad he had asked them to come to Dynamight with him. Despite how they joked around all the time, they always had his back. They cared for him as much as he cared for them.
Denki and Mina were one of the main reasons he wanted to become a good king. They, like all the people in Riot, deserved a strong leader, one that could take all their worries away and solve their problems so they could keep joking around without any concern at all.
Seeing the smiles of his best friends, Eijirou was determined to do the most at the Council, to learn from the other leaders as much as he could and help solve the issue that has forced them to reunite with all that he got, so they could keep smiling.
So, he could keep seeing them smile.
He was going to be better for them.
He was going to be better.