Chapter Text
Everything gets in motion a quiet spring morning, Izuku is running errands for his mother in the heart of the village when he sees a group of people (foreigners judging by their clothes and accent) approach a quiet yet very kind girl buying some fruit. The two men men and the older woman look really thin so Izuku immediately considers giving them some of his food. He could tell his mother that he already ate so she doesn't try to give him half of her meal to him.
Izuku's body is strong enough to skip one meal that day.
"Yes! I'd love to go!" The girl says, eyes almost glimmering with excitement. She's barely eighteen, but taller than most of the girls around the village.
"This is King Bakugo we're talking about," the younger man tells her, before he gets scolded by the other one. The old woman keeps staring at the girl before grimacing, almost like she's disapointed.
The conversation only confuses Izuku more and more; the new King of the sky mountains (they were given that name because they're the tallest of the land) has no jurisdiction in this part of the country. The village belongs to the Todoroki family and King Endeavor is very particular about what it he owns.
Although Izuku doesn't think he'd worry much about a peasant (Endeavor has never seen most of the people that live there) he probably cares about the land than his inhabitants.
"They say King Bakugo is very handsome! Is he? I'd love to marry him!"
Izuku worries about her; he's heard what happened to the Bakugos (or at least part of it) and he knows that after dying their son was crowned King of the land. They say even though he's handsome, he's rude to everyone and sometimes even cruel to certain people. They talk about his personality like something explosive that could detonate at any moment.
Izuku is twenty three years old now, and he hasn't thought about marriage at all. However, if that ever happened to him, he'd like to choose someone he loves. Which is why he's glad he's not part of a royal family.
He also knows that most of the women and young men in the area wish for a more "interesting" or luxurious life than the one they have here and that some of them daydream about marrying a King or a Prince. That's one of the reasons why Todoroki Shoto is very popular in the village; even though he's come once or twice in his life.
"If he wants to marry you," the old woman says after a while. "You'll probably just be his concubine."
"But I'd live in the castle, right?"
"Most likely."
"Does he have a lot of concubines already?"
The woman shakes her head; her expression is still uncertain, contrary to what Izuku can see in the men's faces.
"No. He's a very solitary person and he often claims he'll never marry or have a concubine, but we still go to the castle every year to bring him a new young person, in hopes he accepts our offer."
Why would they do something like that every single year?
"Don't worry, he'll choose me!"
When the men offer to go with her to talk to her parents, the old woman shakes her head again and stops them.
"She's not the one."
"Are you sure?" The older man asks, a bit worried. "She's way prettier than the others!"
"I can be the one!"
"We have tried with wrong ones before! We can try with this one!"
The old woman doesn't give in; the girl has started to tear up, although Izuku is not sure why, she doesn't even know the King.
"We can't lose another year. Besides, I have a feeling, that's why I decided to bring you two here."
"You'll regret this!" The girl stomps one of her feet, before turning around and leaving them there.
Wondering if they'd try to approach another girl or young man again, Izuku thinks about giving them some food; part of him tells him he shouldn't trust them but he can't ignore the glances they throw at the food around every now and then.
He takes one step, when a woman from the village, a friend of his mother, wishes him good morning and starts chatting with him.
"You're such a sweet young man, Midoriya!" She says, pinching one of his cheeks affectionately. "You're more beautiful than the last time I saw you!"
It's not like Izuku doesn't like compliments, It's just that he doesn't believe any of them. Every time he looks at himself in a river or through a mirror, he only sees a very plain man with green hair, green eyes and freckles.
"How's Inko doing? I've been wanting to see her lately, but with the twins I have barely had time for myself!"
"Well, she's-"
"You!" The old woman from earlier approaches Izuku so fast, it startles him a bit. "You have emerald eyes!"
"They're just green."
Inko's friend gives the foreigners a weird look before leaving; she's never been a very trustful woman.
The men immediately walk towards him, staring at him with hope.
Izuku offers them some food, and even though they take it, they don't eat it at the moment, they seem more interested in explaining him that belong to an old clan that used to be close to the royal family in the sky mountains. They tell him that always bring all kind of gifts to the new King, along with a young woman or a man for him to choose as concubine. They tell him he could become very rich and powerful if he gets chosen by the King.
However, Izuku has never been interested in any of that; he likes his life there, next to his mother, and the people he's become fond of. He enjoys that, whenever Endeavor's soldiers come, they're friendly enough to teach Izuku a thing or two about hand to hand combat and how to use a sword.
He's made a lot of progress in the past years.
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested."
Strangely, the answer makes the old woman smile.
Before the two men can try to convince him, he says: "there are a lot of amazing people here that would gladly go with you."
He's about to turn around when the woman grabs one of his arms to stop him.
"A few people in our clan betrayed the current King's parents and even though those people are dead now, he hasn't forgiven us. We live just outside his kingdom, but we don't get enough water or food for our children."
Izuku grimaces, he doesn't think he'd like to be close to someone like that. At the same time it surprises and disappoints him to find out that King Bakugo is indeed a cruel man... However, there's something about the story that doesn't make sense, considering the things Izuku used to hear about King Masaru and Queen Mitsuki.
They were very kind people, according o what the travelers used to say.
"You told me they betrayed them... how?"
"They killed them."
Oh. So that's why he hates the entire clan. Izuku is sure that if something happened to Inko he'd break in pieces and perhaps he'd seek revenge, but he doesn't think he'd ever take it out on innocent people, even though they were somehow related to the murderers.
Still, in his heart, he feel sorry for the King for a brief moment.
"But he personally killed them already! They paid for their sins!" The young man assures him, looking quite pissed. "What he's doing to us is not fair!"
And yet every single year they go to ask for forgiveness.
"Please! You have to help us!"
Izuku can tell they're very desperate, but King Bakugo probably doesn't want to forgive them, but even if he could be persuaded, he certainly wouldn't do that for someone like Izuku.
"i would help you if I could, believe me," he mumbles, emptying his basket of food so they can have something to take back for their children. Fortunately, he still has a few coins left to buy his mother something. "But I'm not the right choice. I'm sorry."
Besides, he can't leave his mother alone.
"I hope you find someone soon!"
The men try to beg again, but the old woman stops them, shaking her head at them both.
Izuku is very thankful for that.
***
He decides not to tell anything of what happened to his mother because Izuku doesn't want to worry her. Besides, they must've left with someone who actually wants to marry a King already; there are a lot of young ones who want that for their future.
After they manage to have dinner, Izuku promises to go with the old farmer and his family to help them with the sheep; he doesn't ask for much because he knows the man doesn't have a lot of money and because carrying the sheep from one way to the other helps him keep his body in good condition.
"Good night, darling!" His mother smiles fondly at him before disappearing into her own room.
Close to midnight, Izuku wakes up after hearing a loud sound in the living room; one of the windows must've broken.
When he gets off the bed and takes a staff with him to protect his mother and defend himself is too late; there's a blue mist sliding inside his small room under the door and before he can find out what type of magic that is, he collapses to the ground and passes out.
By the time his eyes blink back open, not only he realizes that he's completely tied up; he's far away from his own village.
"I'm truly sorry," the old woman says. "But we really need you."
Despite being tied, Izuku manages to sit down; he realizes there are a couple of men surrounding him; probably because they want to make sure he doesn't try to escape.
He knows he's right to be angry, but he can't bring himself to be that mad at them, especially after realizing that he's with the whole clan now and they all look very thin and weak.
But there's one thing he probably can't help but feel irritated about.
"Where's my mother? What did you do to her?"
The old woman puts a frail hand over one of his shoulders and looks at him with all of her years of knowledge and suffering.
"I swear to you we didn't hurt her. She's in her house, probably still asleep."
Inko will suffer a lot when she looks for Izuku and she realizes he's gone. But at least she's unharmed.
"When you're safe in the castle, I'll personally go to visit your mother to tell her that you're okay and that'll you have a better life now. The King will probably allow you to send letters and money to her from time to time."
"This is not going to work."
"It will."
"But what if it doesn't? What happens then?"
"We'll let you go back to your mother," the woman promises.
Izuku knows he shouldn't trust the people who kidnapped him, but there's something in the brown in her eyes that tells him she's being honest with him.
"Alright, let's try. I'll go with you willingly."
There must be some sort of unspoken understanding between them because despite the nervous expression of the men keeping an eye on him, she nods and orders them to untie him.
It's okay because the King is not going to agree to this.
***
"You're the only one who doesn't look happy about this," a teenage girl comments as the others prepare to leave for the castle.
"I don't want to be with someone who I barely know." Izuku replies, smiling at the girl; he's always liked kids. He often babysits Inko's friend's twins. The woman says they're little demons, but he always finds them adorable.
"You'll probably get a lot of cute tunics, and jewelry." The girl continues, trying to cheer him up.
"I don't care about that. I just want to have a quiet life with my friends and family."
The girl observes him for a couples of seconds, almost fascinated, before nodding to herself.
"You'll probably be back with your family soon then. He doesn't want anyone. Except for you, they all go willingly, trying to look their best to catch his interest, but he always sends them back."
Izuku bites his bottom lip, realizing what it'll mean rejection for them: another year of struggle.
"After I go back to my village, I promise I'll talk to my neighbors and friends to see if we can bring you and your people food or find a way to get you a place to live with us."
The teenage girl smiles at him sincerely before saying: "You're a good one. I like you."
The way towards the castle is actually pretty fast but full of curious eyes; the people who live right outside seem interested in him and the others, but the difference between them and the clan who brings Izuku in is abysmal: the others look healthy and well fed. And by the things he hears as they walk in the main city, it seems that they like their King, even though they often say he's a menace and very wild.
Perhaps there's hope for their King; maybe someday he'll let go of the resentment inside his heart and will forgive the ones that had nothing to do with his parents' deaths.
The guards let them through almost immediately and while the majority of the citizens stay behind, a few of them are allowed to walk inside the castle.
They're quickly led towards the main big room.
Izuku gets surprised as he quickly glances in the throne's direction and sees a young man, albeit older than himself (probably 27 or 28), sitting on it with a golden crown upon his blond head and a silver scepter in his left hand. He wears a dark tunic with orange fabric secured to the side with his golden belt. And over his shoulders a cape that has golden feathers on its right side.
He looks very handsome and pretty muscular for someone who (Izuku thought) only stayed in his throne or his chambers the whole day. He was probably trained as a warrior as well. The look on his face is cold and almost detached, but he doesn't blame him for that, he lost both his parents after all.
No, it was ever worse: they were taken from him.
However, that doesn't justify his actions towards innocent people.
"What have you brought to me this time?" He asks, almost bored and Izuku looks down immediately, to try to hide his smile.
He's going to go back home soon.
"Another sacrificial lamb willing to spend the rest of his life with the demon King in exchange for a good life and pretty things?"
Izuku wonders if he heard a few people call him that and decided to embrace it in order to intimidate his enemies even more. He then turns to look at the old woman next to him, who's still smiling like everything's going just like she wished for. Hasn't she noticed the venom in King Bakugo's voice? He also hates the people who come here to try to get a better life by becoming his concubine.
"Yes," the woman says with confidence and Izuku is somewhat grateful for that answer as well, mostly because he doesn't trust his own voice at the moment.
The King will know he's lying if he makes him-
"I want to hear it from him and I want him to look at me in the eyes when he says it."
Izuku gets a bit startled when he hears the deep voice closer to him. He's probably standing now, away from his own throne.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath; it's alright, he wasn't going to be chosen anyway. He can't wait to go back home.
Slowly, he looks up at the man in front of him and realizes that he's even taller than Izuku imagined.
"You're eyes look like emeralds," Bakugo comments, with a smirk on his face. "So... have you come willingly?"
"Yes," surprisingly, Izuku manages to control his voice; it sounds surprisingly normal, although not eager like most of the women and men who were brought here before him would have probably sounded. However, his eyes are something he can't control and when the King's red ones stare at him Izuku can't help but glare in response.
It's like he's in a staring contest and he has to win.
The smirk on Bakugo's face only turns wider.
"Alright, then," he mumbles without turning away from him. "You have a deal. A few of my soldiers will get you food and all that you need for your people. Your clan is welcome into the kingdom again."
The woman hugs a very shocked Izuku who still has no idea if he heard right or not. This is not happening, right?
"Thank you," the woman whispers into his ear and adds with a more cautious tone: "You'll be fine, I promise."
"Hands off him now," Bakugo growls, grabbing Izuku by his arm to pull him closer to himself. "He's not yours anymore."
Instictivenly, Izuku shakes off his hand, and that only makes the King seem more amused.
"To prove you I'll hold my end of the deal, I'll marry him right now. Hey, shitty hair! Bring me the old man!"
A guard with red hair looks at the King with worry and confusion. If the rumors that he has never taken any consorts or concubines is true, then Izuku can understand why all his guards look in shock.
"Are you sure, your Majesty?"
"Do I have to repeat myself, shitty hair?"
Izuku narrows his eyes again, but this time he can't control his lips: "I don't want to marry you."
There's a collective gasp that, he supposes, comes from a few members of the council and nobles who are there to watch and judge. A young man, who looks like he'd do anything to be in Izuku's place snarls at him.
"How dare y-"
"Everyone! SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Upon hearing him yell, Izuku takes a few steps back.
"I don't want this."
"I know, I could see it in your pretty eyes," Bakugo mumbles, still grinning: "But you'll marry me nonetheless."
He can't help it this time: he glares at the King, but the other man doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. He looks very amused, and even happy at Izuku's attitude.
He's crazy.
But Izuku can be as crazy as he is.
"I want a hand to hand combat!"
"Heh," Bakugo smirks again, like he's having the time of his life. His demeanor is getting on Izuku's nerves. "And I suppose that, if you win, you get to leave, am I right?"
"Yes, but you must keep your promise to these people."
"Fine. But what do I get if I win?"
"I'll marry you willingly."
The king pretends to take his time to think about it, but Izuku suspects that he only wants to get a reaction from him.
"Alright, but you'll also tell me your name. However, it won't be hand to hand combat because I don't want to hit your face. So we'll just try to tackle the other to the ground. The first one to fall, loses."
"I'm ready!"
"I know you are, emerald. That's why I like you." Bakugo says, smirking.
Izuku knows he just got himself in more trouble somehow.