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“Do I really need a bodyguard to go to the other kingdom? I am skilled in sword and arrow, Mother.”
Inko raises an eyebrow at that. “It is no place for a prince to travel alone. You are the heir to the throne, Prince Izuku. You must have an escort.”
Izuku huffed, blowing strands of his green hair out of his face. He maintained his composure, gazing earnestly to the Queen sitting at the throne.
“May I choose my own escort, then?”
The Queen paused; her eyes narrowed. Izuku did not waver. She eventually sighed as the prolonged moment ended.
“I trust you, Prince Izuku. Please, choose wisely.”
At a young age, Izuku was a scrawny kid. This hardly affected him, as the royal heir, nobody dared to harm him in any way. But he always heard the whispers.
“Is he fit to be the prince?”
“How could he? He doesn’t seem like he’ll grow strong.”
“He’s a weakling.”
“He isn’t worthy.”
Izuku held his head up high. For he knew, once he gained his magic, he can be respected and loved by his people.
That was what he thought, anyway.
“There is no chance, then?” The queen, the sole ruler of the kingdom after the passing of the king, stayed quiet as the royal physician spoke.
“He doesn’t possess what is needed to create magic. I’m afraid he is magicless, Your Majesty.”
Izuku remembered being frozen to the spot.
He couldn’t think of anything but the repeating words of the physician.
Magicless, magicless, magicless.
Without magic, how could he be the prince? Unfortunately, the word was leaked, and his reputation of the worthless prince spread throughout the kingdom. And Izuku knew then, if his mother, loved by all and her citizens, wasn’t his mother, he would have died soon after.
Even so, Izuku never gave up. He trained. What he didn’t have in magic he had in purely physical and tactical skills. He saw the look in his mother’s tired eyes. He promised himself he wouldn’t cause any more pain and burden for her again.
When night fell, it was time for Izuku to set off. Dressing himself in a commoner’s cloak, he opened the window in his bedroom, letting the cool night air breeze in. Taking in a large breath, Izuku couldn’t help but to feel alive. Placing the bow over his back and his sword to his hip, adjusting his mask over the lower half of his face, he set off.
In certain moments, Izuku couldn’t help but to feel sorry to his mother. She didn’t know of his nightly endeavors, but he never planned to tell her, anyway. This was the only time he truly felt free. And when he jumped out of the window, effortlessly landing with little weight on the ground, he huffed a small laugh, relishing in his small victory. Turning around, the wind lightly tussling his hair, he set off on his adventure to the town.
Izuku always enjoyed the nearby towns. They were the exact opposite of the stifling atmosphere in the castle. Here, there were soft, glowing lights, and warm greetings. There were couples laughing as they walked, and kids running and chasing each other. He couldn’t help but to smile at his people’s happiness.
“Excuse me, sir!”
Izuku jumped at the voice of a young woman and turned to face her. He tilted his head, pointing at himself.
She giggled. “Yes, you. Would you like to see any of our items? I’m sure one of them would be of interest to you.”
He hesitated, subconsciously grabbing the small bag of coins in his pocket. Walking slowly over to her, he gazed at the jewels in wonder.
He never seen such pretty jewelry! That was saying something, as he saw many fine decorations and accessories in his years. Yet, these all had such a homely feeling to it, like it was specially crafted by someone with love.
His eyes traveled to a particular necklace, and he felt a blush of happiness. It was a beautiful golden chain, with small emerald stones ingrained between, and a large emerald stone in the middle.
“See anything you like?” He looked back up to the girl’s big, brown eyes.
“U-um, I think I do!” He clutched at the small bag. “I’m not sure if I have enough coins.” He smiled sadly. “I apologize for wasting your time.”
“Which one were you talking about?”
Izuku jolted when he felt a warm presence behind him, and quickly turned around. Only to come face to face with a broad, naked chest. He felt his face turn redder through the mask as he sheepishly raised his head to see the most beautiful man he has ever seen.
His eyes were so red, redder than the finest of wines, his hair in a messy array of spikes. His angular face was so elegant, which was so bizarre for such a masculine body, but Izuku thought it worked nicely-
“O-oi!”
Izuku squeaked, as he shut his mouth, his eyes widening as he snapped back to reality. He paused when he saw the blonde man sputtering, his face red.
“I just asked which one you were looking at. I don’t need you to check me out, you pervert!”
“I-I’m sorry, sir! You won’t ever see me again! I’ll never dirty your presence again with my awful perversion!” Izuku quickly hid behind his hands, ready to run for it. How embarrassing! It must be the lack of socialization at the castle for him to so brazenly look at another in such a way!
Before he could break into a full sprint, he felt a warm hand firmly hold his wrist.
“W-wait!”
Izuku paused, still peeking from behind his hands.
The man huffed, his cheeks still red as he looked off to the side. “I still want to know which one you wanted.”
Izuku’s silence must have told the man something because he continued. “O-oi, if you want to reject me, go ahead and get it over with!”
Izuku tilted his head. “Reject?”
The man let go of his wrist, and shrugged his broad shoulder, almost sheepishly. “I-I want to gift you the jewelry. That’s all.”
Izuku gaped. “B-but, but why?”
The man scowled, his ruby eyes boring into Izuku’s. “Why the hell else?? You’re pretty as hell and I want to court you! Got a problem with that??”
Izuku sputtered, frantically waving his hands. “No, no problem! U-um.” His brain was scattered and his mind drew blank. This beautiful person thought that he was beautiful?? He could only see his eyes and maybe some freckles, but that was enough to entice this ethereal being?? What was even going on.
“So, is that a yes or no?”
“Y-yes or no to what?” Izuku sputtered.
“To the courting!”
“Ah!! Yes!” Wait, did he just say yes?? Where was his brain?
“Then which necklace did you want??”
“The green one!”
“Fine!”
The poor girl watched amusedly at the strange pairing as the blonde man forcefully opened his coin bag and smacked down enough for the necklace.
Izuku’s heart almost fell out of his chest when he took his hand and led him away to a less crowded place of the town.
Izuku was in awe as he was led to a small stream, the fireflies dancing near the water.
“Oh my Gods, how did you find this place?”
The man shrugged as he squatted down at the bank of the stream. “I always came here when I was younger. It was a good place to go when I got tired of people.”
Izuku slowly sat down next to him. “I never knew the feeling.”
He looked at the man, and blushed when he saw the red eyes already gazing at him. “What feeling?”
He looked down at his fiddling thumbs. “The feeling of being tired of people. I never really was around a lot growing up,” he said with a small shrug.
“Why, ‘cuz you have a crappy personality?”
Izuku gasped. “What?? Gods, I hope not!” The man laughed, and Izuku almost hated how much he found the deep rumble so attractive.
“I-I just never had much of an opportunity to socialize!” Izuku huffed indignantly. The man rolled his eyes playfully.
“Sure. That’s what all the loners say.”
Izuku pouted.
The night went by so quickly, and by the time Izuku thought about time, he realized it was sunrise. He learned so much about this beautiful person, and he was left saddened that he would have to leave soon. This person, so brazen and rude, was also so sweet, and Izuku loved the moments when he stayed quiet, intently listened to Izuku. He never felt so…heard.
“Here.” He felt a pleasant shiver when the man gently took the necklace from his bag, wrapping his arms around to clasp the necklace on Izuku’s neck. From this close up, Izuku could smell the smoky scent of the man, and he knew he was already loved it.
When the man leaned back, his soft eyes scanning Izuku’s profile, he blushed, fidgeting with his necklace. “Thanks.”
He looked up. “W-what is your name?”
The man moved back a stray curl from Izuku’s face. “Bakugo Katsuki.”
Izuku couldn’t breathe as Katsuki leaned in closer.
“What’s your name, beautiful?”
Izuku was about to respond when he felt the hair on his neck rise. He knew this feeling of unease. It was the feeling when he knew someone was about to attack. Without even thinking about it, his muscles reacted. Quickly reaching to push Katsuki and himself down, he felt the whizz of an arrow by his ear.
And just as quickly as he went down, he stood up again, unsheathing his sword. “Show yourself, cowards!”
Another arrow whizzed by, but Katsuki was already prepared. Izuku looked in wonder as he lit up an explosion in his palm, destroying the arrow midflight.
He stuck close to Katsuki as a group of three bandits started to come closer. Before Izuku could even react, Katsuki was already set on two. Izuku watched in awe as the blonde fought. It was almost graceful, like a golden phoenix. Izuku swiftly was snapped back to reality as someone’s sword sliced through the air near his head, and he too, set into action. Quickly spinning out of the bandit’s reach, he easily knocked down the man with the butt of his sword. Immediately looking to see how Katsuki was doing, his eyes only could widen in horror when he saw one of the bandits stealthily moving closer with a knife in hand.
“Kacchan!”
He moved without thinking, immediately knocking the man down.
When the area was silent once more, only the sound of Izuku and Katsuki’s heavy breathing, Izuku dropped his sword down to the grass and faced Katsuki “Gods, that came out of nowhere, are you okay?” He checked to see for any injuries, cupping the man’s face gently.
“You…”
Katsuki was speechless.
Izuku tilted his head. “Hm?”
“You’re Prince Izuku,” the man whispered.
Izuku immediately dropped his hands, face pale. He looked around the place and saw his mask. It fell off mid fight.
He slowly turned back to see Katsuki, the red eyes narrowing. Izuku’s heart thudded painfully. “Katsuki...”
The man immediately moved away, an incredulous laugh escaping from him. “Wow. So I was with the prince of the kingdom, huh? The magicless heir.”
Izuku flinched. “Katsuki, what…?” Was Katsuki like all those other people? The people that believed his lack of magic made him worthless. Now that Katsuki knew his identity, did he not wish to see him anymore? Was that it?
“Was this all just a fun game to you?” Izuku’s mind went blank.
“Game?” He asked quietly. When he saw the hurt so clear on Katsuki’s face, he felt his heart thud painfully again.
“I-I only knew you for a little bit, but in all my time surrounded by others, you were the first that made me feel something.” Katsuki stepped back, the hurt being masked by anger again. “But it’s clear this was just a way for the prince to have some entertainment, huh? Go mess around with commoners and play with them for the night? Huh? Is that it?”
Izuku reeled back. “W-what? Never!”
Katsuki glared down at the ground. “Well, then what was this? What were you doing?”
“I fell for you.” The blonde immediately looked up, his eyes wide.
“What.”
“I, Prince Izuku, fell in love with you,” Izuku proclaimed confidently.
When he was sure Katsuki wouldn’t move away, he moved closer to him. He hesitated but grabbed the blonde’s hand anyways. His heart sang when he didn’t move away.
“I don’t care that I’m royal or you’re a commoner.” Izuku blushed. “When you asked me to court you, I was so confused how a beautiful man like yourself could even like me, I mean you could barely even see my face!”
Katsuki stayed shocked in silence.
Izuku smiled gently. “But, tonight, I could barely even feel the time passing because I was only experiencing reality through my moments with you. I didn’t even know it was possible to fall in one day, but I don’t want to lose this feeling, or you, to only one day.”
Izuku remembered his mother’s words. He didn’t even intend to find an escort today, but with the blonde man in front of him, he knew of his decision right then and there.
“And, if you would like, I would like to travel together.”
Katsuki finally reacted, his eyes widening. “What?”
Izuku blushed. “Even though I am skilled in sword and arrow, the Queen still believes it would be wise for me to bring an escort to the neighboring kingdom. Your skill of explosions would be useful, and we work well together. Should you accept, we can travel together.”
Katsuki looked away. “Prince Izuku-“
“Please, just call me Izuku,” Izuku pleaded.
Katsuki hesitated. “I’m just a commoner, we cannot continue-“
“I don’t care.”
Katsuki scowled. “Hah?”
Izuku grinned.
“I followed many of my mother’s request, but she always left the choice of love to me.” He cupped Katsuki’s face. “I choose you. If you’ll have me.”
Katsuki’s eyes finally softened to the soft rubies Izuku loved. “Then…I will accept, Izuku.”
The two walked hand in hand, Izuku humming happily as he played with his emerald necklace.
“By the way…”
Izuku looked at Katsuki, tilting his head when he saw the man’s growing grin.
“Did you call me Kacchan?”
Izuku’s face blew red. “No! I most certainly did not!”
Katsuki laughed, leaning over to kiss Izuku’s flaming cheek. “Keep the nickname, my Prince.”