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Midoriya Izuku opens his eyes and blinks confusedly a couple of times before he distinguishes a looming figure growing close to his face. All of his senses are alert in a fraction of a second, and his knee-jerk kind of response is driven by the puckered lips that are no doubt trying to meet his, so of course the most reasonable reaction to that is—
“Stop!”
—to punch Prince Charming in the face.
-
“Man… you really throw a mean punch. I don’t remember the last time someone punched me as hard as you did.”
Despite the fact that there’s no real bite in the prince’s words, Izuku can’t help but shrink in on himself in shame.
“I’m really sorry,” he apologizes.
“Hey, it’s fine, you were protecting your virtue— or, y’know, your chivalry…” Izuku grimaces at that, and the redhead sighs and scratches his cheek. “Man, this is confusing.”
Confusing barely starts to cover their predicament.
This is not the way it was supposed to go, but apparently fate – that teasing bastard – deemed that his long awaited meeting with the princess was not meant to be, at least not for today.
“So… you’re not the princess… right?”
“I’m not!” Izuku is only slightly appalled at the insinuation. “I’m a man!”
“Okay, okay...” The redhead raises his hand in an appeasing motion. “It’s just—you were where the princess was supposed to be!”
Izuku sighs, tired and disappointed. “The princess wasn’t here when I arrived… I looked around for her… but I was so tired after fighting all the creatures of the forest that I fell asleep on the slab,” he explains.
All things considered, Izuku has to admit it was partially his fault. Though he doubts he would have acted the same way as the other prince did if the roles had been reversed. After all, if he had found the other boy resting on the slab – no matter what circumstances they were in – Izuku wouldn’t had mistaken him for a girl.
Izuku pouts, and in the interlude in which the redhead is gathering his thoughts around their dilemma, Izuku ogles at him shamelessly.
Red hair tied in a low ponytail, fiery eyes of the same hue, toned body – barely concealed in his golden and red attire – Izuku would be blind to mistake him as anything but a male.
Does this mean the redhead this Izuku is feminine enough to pass off as a princess?
“So, what do we do now?” The redhead asks, still massaging his jaw.
“Return to our kingdoms?” Izuku suggests, uncertain.
The redhead seems to consider it and after a moment he sighs. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna face that monstrous bird again… at least not now. I just arrived. I’m tired.”
Izuku nods.“Yeah, the bird was tough,”
“I know right! But it was nothing compared to—”
“—the winged tiger?” Izuku interjects earning an eager nod from the redhead. “I thought it was going to eat me…”
“It was a manly fight! A little tough, but I’m lucky to have these babies!”
In a blink of an eye the prince’s arms turn into rock-like shape, uneven and ending in a pointed edge at the tip where his fingers are supposed to be. Izuku springs into his feet, curious.
“Is that your quirk? That’s awesome!”
“Thanks! What about you? What kind of quirk do you have… uh…?”
“Midoriya Izuku,” he introduces himself, prompted by the expectant look of the redhead. “Prince of Yuuei—and I have a strength enhancer quirk.”
“Awesome!” The redhead straightens and walks up to him. Despite the swollen cheek, he grins as bright as the sun before he states, “I’m Kirishima Eijirou, prince of Riot.”
Izuku is tugged forward into a rather enthusiast handshake.
As unprecedented as this is, Izuku finds himself a bit glad that his meeting with the princess has been delayed. And seeing that his fellow prince doesn’t seem bothered or remotely disappointed by this outcome, Izuku even dares to say that he wasn’t that ready to meet her either.
‘A consolation prize,’ Izuku thinks with his arm about to fall off. This is almost as if fate is saying, in its own foreign way, ‘you didn’t get your fated one yet, but here… take this – a friend’.
Izuku though, has always been bad at translations.
-
Seeing that the place is swarmed by too many dangerous creatures, Izuku opted for leaving his horse behind. Seemingly, Eijirou thought the same, so they have to walk all the way to open land, and to where their horses are.
Despite his exhaustion, Izuku considers the way back is less tough than the first time he went in. He reckons is all because of their joint efforts. Facing the creatures of the forest is an easy feat with Eijirou’s help, and Izuku – more often than he is aware of – finds himself admiring the redhead’s strength.
“Maybe she was kidnapped,” Eijirou wonders aloud as they step out of the underbrush.
“Why would someone kidnap her?”
“She’s a princess,” Eijirou shrugs as if that’s all the explanation needed.
“Well… she wasn’t where the stars told us she was supposed to be — and there are bandits everywhere… there’s always danger whenever a princess is involved, maybe she was kidnapped after all, why else wouldn't she be here?” Izuku mutters through his hand, adapting a pensive tone. “If she’s been kidnapped then is my duty—”
“– our –”
“Our –” Izuku agrees, “— duty to rescue her.”
Eijirou nods. “That’s the manly thing to do!”
“We have to find her first– I have no idea of how to do it.”
“I know someone who can help us!” Eijirou raves as he mounts his stallion, and only then is that Izuku realizes that his horse is nowhere to be found. Seeing his troubled demeanor, the redhead asks, “Problem?”
“Um. I…I think my horse got loose and…” And Izuku sees it; the branch in which he tied the reins of his horse is broken and that’s all the statement he needs to let his shoulders drop. “Yes…problem,” he admits.
Even if he’s on the loose, his horse knows the way back home, Izuku tries to console himself.
“Just ride with me.” Izuku blinks as Eijirou offers his hand for him to take. “Hey c’mon, we’re going on a quest to find the princess. We might as well do it together, it’ll be easier. ‘Sides. we make a good team.”
They do make a good team, Izuku agrees. Winged tiger exists no more and they might be the reason that some of the creatures of the forest have gone extinct.
Izuku looks at Eijirou’s expectant eyes. Maybe, this isn’t such a bad idea, he thinks as he grasps the redhead’s hand.
This is what fate wanted, after all.
-
They’re a sight to behold; a prince riding with another prince. Both capes – red and green – waving wildly as they ride Crimson Riot, Eijirou’s stallion and the fastest Izuku’s ever ridden.
“Where to?” Izuku asks.
“There’s a witch in the far end of Blast Kingdom. He can help us to know where to start.”
They reach the kingdom after two days. The witch is not of much help though.
“Follow your fucking heart. I don’t know! Stop bothering me or I’ll blow you fuckers up!”
Kind and cooperative is also a thing that he is not.
“Is he always like this?” Izuku whispers under his breath as they leave the witch’s cottage behind.
Eijirou laughs, seemingly unaffected by the witch’s rudeness. “Yes, but everything that falls from his mouth is a prediction. He’s really accurate.”
“He said—”
“—follow your heart.”
Izuku pouts. That’s as good as having nothing at all.
“So, prince charming… ” Eijirou looks at him from over his shoulder. “Where’s your heart telling you to go?”
Rather than his heart, Izuku’s stomach is the one that answers. Rather loudly.
“Okay! Food then!”
Izuku smiles sheepishly. Overall, this seems like a good start.
-
“Why don’t you leave it like that?” Izuku asks, his fork stopping halfway to his mouth as he notices the redhead’s predicament.
Eijirou stops his efforts at taming his hair into a low ponytail to look at him.
“I don’t know man… people back in my kingdom used to tell me is not fitting for a prince,” he says while he runs his fingers through his hair. “Ugh. Why is it so hard?”
Izuku can’t help but laugh at the failed attempts of the redhead; his hair is a mess that seems determined to defy gravity.
“I’m sorry… but is this a habitual thing?” Izuku asks between wheezes as he tries to smother his giggling.
A pitiful moan is his only answer.
They’ve been on the road for four days and their princeling appearance is almost lost thanks to the inclement open land. Food and rest are their main worries, but as Izuku looks at his companion, he takes notice that, as banal as the concern of their physical appearance is, they should try to find a way to look less disheveled if they want to keep enjoying people’s hospitality.
“Maybe you should just—wait let me…” Eijirou sighs and stays still as Izuku leans forward and threads his fingers in the – surprisingly – soft hair. The prince stares curiously at him and Izuku tries not to look at his eyes, he feels a bit self-conscious getting into the redhead’s personal space.
“A prince is a prince no matter what his hairstyle is,” Izuku mutters, running his fingers through the red hairs to make it follow its natural course. “There, better…”
Eijirou touches his hair and looks hesitant. “Do I look like a prince?” he asks.
Izuku eyes him. Frankly, he looks like a bounty hunter and less like a prince now. Still, Izuku can’t help but blurt the first thing that comes into his mind, “It fits you.”
It’s not a lie, and apparently, that’s the right thing to say since Izuku is given a big grin in response.
‘Blinding,’ Izuku thinks as he can’t stop himself from responding with one of his own.
-
Izuku knew it was not going to be easy, but he never thought it was going to be this hard either.
It takes days that pile one over the other and stack themselves into weeks. The two of them keep following a trail that doesn’t really exist. Eijirou is the one who insists on going wherever Izuku points, and the prince of Yuuei is a tad guilty to be the one getting them nowhere. His concern though, is put to rest as Eijirou waves his hand dismissively with a, “It’s okay! Your guess is as good as mine. Just tell me where you feel is right.”
In the time they’re together, they fight back to back against the creatures of the forests and the bandits that lurk near the roads. They share stories before falling asleep, they travel and they grow fond of each other to the point Izuku believes that finding an empty slab instead of a princess is not the worst thing that could had happened.
Izuku doesn’t even realize when two months have come and gone, he’s too busy having fun and adventuring.
-
“Well... this is not what I thought he meant by ‘two beds for the price of one’.”
Izuku nods as he eyes warily at the lonely bed. It’s big, almost as if two beds were stuck together.
“W-we can always go to another Inn.”
Izuku’s suggestion remains ignored as Eijirou throws himself on the bed, bouncing and hugging it as if he’s meeting a long lost lover.
Too long they’ve been on the road and even if they’re princes, their gold has to run out sooner or later, so they really take good care of it. Today, however, is one of those days in which both feel their princely upbringing getting the best of them. The mere thought of passing another night sleeping on a hay-bed instead of a soft of a mattress – decent, warm and somewhat clean – is downright appalling.
The bed looks so soft— it is soft, Izuku is happy to realize when he reaches down a hand to feel it.
“K-Kirishima-k—mhp!” Taking advantage of his closeness, Eijirou tugs him forward to fall into the mattress and next to him.
“Hey, it’s fine!” The redhead says, laughing as Izuku props himself on his arms. “We can share. It’s big enough.”
Izuku is too tired to make a fuss over it, besides Eijirou seems unbothered. If it’s not a problem for the redhead then Izuku is fine with it as well. So, finding no more reasons to complain, he plops down and relishes in the softness of the bed. Is not as soft as the one he has back at home but it’s definitely better than itchy hay.
Eijirou laughs after hearing the satisfied noise he makes. “See, this is great!”
Izuku nods as he sinks his face further into the mattress.
“You’re gonna smother yourself.”
Izuku turns his head a bit, just for his eye to be visible as if to say he won’t. In response, Eijirou laughs again, rich and candid.
Izuku takes in the sight before his eyes. Eijirou’s heart is on full display and all over his face for him to witness – from the crease of his eyes when closed in mirthful laughter, to the tug of both corners of his mouth, letting his white canines peek under them. ‘Charming,’ Izuku thinks as both awe and a little bit of envy battle in his chest when he looks at the one who is supposed to be his rival.
Over the three and a half months they’ve been together, he has realized that Eijirou is brave, handsome and has a passion for adventures that could only match Izuku’s.
The constant thought of ‘if the princess were to choose, she’d definitely choose him’ swirl in his mind, but regardless of that, he is not disheartened by it. Rather, it’s more of a blow for his self-esteem, because Izuku might be a prince in name, but Kirishima Eijirou is the epitome of what it means to be one. With every breath he takes he charms people all around him… and Izuku…
Izuku can’t help but feel a little charmed by him as well.
‘I wish I could be as awesome as him…’
“What are you thinking?” Eijirou asks, good-naturedly when he notices his staring.
Izuku blinks at the question, and lies with the first thing that’s dangling at the tip of his tongue, “Your eyelashes… they’re really long.”
‘And pretty.’ He doesn’t say.
Izuku remembers the day he was given his sword. He remembers his mother and All Might’s proud expressions. He remembers the flare in his chest, growing stronger as he relished in being the cause of their happiness.
It’s the same. Looking at Eijirou’s smile grow bigger after his words, feels just the same.
-
“Midoriya?”
Izuku hums, and looks to his left where Eijirou is.
Having his attention, the redhead scratches his cheeks nervously, “So… I was thinking… what are we gonna do when we find the princess?”
Izuku blinks. The immediate answer is ‘Saving her’, but that’s too obvious so he frowns, seemingly failing to understand the question.
“I mean…” Eijirou starts. “There’s just one princess, and there’s two of us.”
Oh. Izuku takes a bite of his apple and munches slowly, trying to come up with something. Frankly, he never gave much thought about it. Izuku keeps pointing the way to his heart’s content, but they’ve been on the road for almost seven months and the princess’ whereabouts are still a mystery as much as their next destination is.
Izuku feels a bit guilty. This journey is in order to save her, and yet Izuku has been having so much fun with Eijirou that there are days in which he forgets the reason behind their quest.
Again, Eijirou is the better prince out of them to remind him about it.
“Duel?” Izuku suggests, uncertain.
By the grimace Eijirou draws on his features he doesn’t seem eager to take on his suggestion. “A duel is manly… but…”
“But?” Izuku prompts, and Eijirou takes his time. He looks at him – assesses him – with those bright crimson eyes of his that make Izuku stiffen, self-conscious.
Eijirou sighs heavily before he lies on the ground. The green grass is bright and contrast with his hair, and Izuku can’t help but think that green suits him. He would look so good dressed in Izuku’s colors.
“I don’t really care, y’know,” Eijirou says, and Izuku blinks, not knowing what to say. At the expectant silence, Eijirou continues. “I mean. I do care about the princess. We can’t let her go missing and be endangered, but… I just wanna save her… I don’t really plan to marry her or—I don’t know… ”
Izuku allows himself to address the feeling in his chest; a prickling sensation he doesn’t know what to call but it’s warm and pleasant.
‘Relief’ a voice inside his mind shouts, and Izuku drowns it out with confusion. As much as he feels at ease knowing that he won’t have to duel Eijirou, he knows that the reason is not precisely because he’s getting the princess for himself, so... Why?
“I just… getting married to someone I’ve never met sounds a bit…”
As Eijirou trails off, Izuku frowns worriedly. A deep part of him agrees with Eijirou, he has always thought the same thing. Happily ever after is a surreal concept for someone as logical as him. Still…
“You’ll have all the time in the world to know each other after you marry,” Izuku says, borrowing the words everyone back in his kingdom tossed at him to put an end to his questionings.
Eijirou though, looks unconvinced. “It’s the way things are… huh? That’s what they told you too?”
Izuku is taken aback. Does every prince have the same talk?
Eijirou turns to him and smiles. “I don’t know about you, but I rather marry someone I already know … maybe even fallen in love with already. I think that’s better.”
Izuku nods slowly. Romanticism has never been a concept of which he is fond of. He’d rather live on by everything that entails being a true prince – adventures, fighting dragons, saving people and making the world a better place for everyone. Romance is optional, or so he thought until he came of age and the quest to get himself a princess was shoved on to him as a task to check in his list of princely duties.
“Maybe we can... just be friends with the princess first instead of getting married…?” Izuku suggests.
“But what if she doesn’t like me?”
Izuku scrunches his nose, almost offended and blurts out, “Why wouldn’t she?”
Eijirou is the perfect prince; charming, chivalrous, brave like no other. Why wouldn’t a princess – anyone – want him?
The redhead shrugs. “I don’t know, but it’s cool. I’d rather marry someone I know. Someone I can go on adventures with. I want to travel the world and see all the amazing things that are out there. If my fated one is with me, then I don’t need anything else.”
Traveling and living adventures with his fated one…
Now that sounds like a fairy tale.
-
Izuku is both surprised and taken aback when Eijirou offers the reins of Crimson Riot in a scarce display of laziness.
“Why don’t you take the lead today?” The redhead bids and Izuku can feel the giddy smile of excitement shaping his features at the thought of taking control of a stallion, especially one as majestic as Crimson Riot.
Izuku is too busy finding the ride enjoyable until Eijirou presses himself closer. The faster they go, the closer Eijirou gets. And Izuku tries to relax, tries to let the wind wash away his tension, tries not to mind the arms wrapped around his torso and the warmth of the body behind him, but it’s impossible. His nervousness is impossible to conceal; tense muscles, white knuckles on reins, fast-paced heartbeat. It all speaks of how stirred he is by Eijirou’s close presence.
“Are you feeling sick? I can always take the reins back,” Eijirou offers, seemingly taking notice of his inner-turmoil.
“I-I’m fine— fine …” His voice breaks, and inwardly, he dies in shame. “Fine, perfectly fine— just excited to reach Shinketsu.”
“I’m excited as well! I think there will be a festival when we get there! I heard some people talking on the road.” Eijirou’s breath is warm and falls on his neck, Izuku suppresses a shiver.
This heart-attack inducing closeness it’s too much for his poor heart.
“Y-yeah. Fun!” Izuku exclaims a little too stiff. Even if he doesn’t fully understand it, he knows that it’s not dislike that he feels towards this closeness.
“I wanna eat something that’s not just fruit— I want meat! Do you think they’ll have…” Eijirou’s excited rambling is drown out by the clacking of Crimson Riot’s gallop, and it gives Izuku a moment to gather his thoughts.
A festival sounds like fun, sounds like people, sounds like civilization – something they’ve lacked the company of in so many weeks – but even if the thought is appealing, especially because of the hard time his heart is having – the redhead’s breath falling on his ear and his arms around his torso makes him wish they’d never reach the kingdom.
-
They reach Shinketsu kingdom before nightfall, just when the festival is about to start.
There’s music, there’s dancing and there’s alcohol; a combination Izuku knows it is as fun as it is dangerous.
It’s proven right the moment Izuku starts to lose his inhibitions to rum. Usually he’s not one to take upon dancing, he’s always been too self-conscious about it. But today he’s feeling free and unreserved, daring as he remembers Eijirou’s solid presence clinging onto him.
The music is loud and lively, and Izuku finds himself falling in rhythm. He’s attracting some eyes but he’s uncaring of them. His concentration lies solely on a pair of crimson eyes that he seeks while dancing.
Izuku looks for Eijirou and finds him sitting with a crowd, laughing and drinking. Even with the music and the distance between them, Izuku can hear his rich laughter, apparently contagious by the way people echo it back.
His charisma is attracting everyone as bees are to honey, and Izuku feels both awed and slightly… annoyed?
Yes, he thinks, he is bothered. But even with the fog that the liquor clouds his mind with, he knows that this feeling is not towards Eijirou. The sting in his chest, the bitter taste in his mouth, the fire in his gut is relatable to envy, yet it runs deeper.
Is it…?
As if he feels his gaze, Eijirou looks up to meet his eyes. Crimson and emerald clash, and Izuku’s heart leaps as he revels in having Eijirou’s attention fixed solely on him.
Izuku’s steps never falter, he keeps moving in tempo with the music and keeps taking strangers’ hands wishing they were someone else’s.
Seemingly, wishes do come true. The redhead stands up and leaves the crowd, and upon seeing that he walks up to him, Izuku does the same. They meet under the starry sky amidst the bonfires casting shadows between them. They meet amidst dancers, music and laughter.
Izuku’s giggling is uncontainable as Eijirou’s mocks a reverence. “My prince,” he greets and extends his hand, waiting for him to take him.
Izuku does.
No words are exchanged when their shadows merge into a single one. Eijirou takes him in his arms and begins to sway him. Slow and leisurely, everything the music playing in the background is not.
“You okay?” Eijirou asks and Izuku feels his cheeks flame in embarrassment. They’re chest to chest and the telltale thumping of his heartbeat doesn’t go unnoticed by Eijirou, it seems.
“I am,” he whispers.
The music stops and then the sky lights up as the bonfires grow bigger. The fire is beautiful, uncontainable, fiery. ‘Just like Eijirou,’ Izuku thinks.
Despite the thundering noise of the crowd as they celebrate, Izuku still catches the words spoken to him. Rather than hear them, he reads them from Eijirou’s lips.
“I’m glad I meet you.”
Izuku sucks in a breath. Eijirou’s words break down the hesitation his feelings were caged in. Too long he has gone tiptoeing around them. He has a hitch of what they are, who they are from, who they are meant to be for. But he’s a prince, and so is Eijirou. This is not the way fate works.
There’s a lost princess somewhere, waiting for them to rescue her, and yet… Izuku can’t see beyond Eijirou’s back when they’re riding together.
Maybe that’s why they haven’t found her yet. Izuku has been following his heart, but his heart…
His heart has always been here… with Eijirou.
-
Shinketsu’s spring festival last all through the night and when the first lights of dawn drape upon earth, Izuku finds himself tired and sleepy, dozing off with his head pillowed on Eijirou’s lap.
“Me too…” Izuku says, spontaneous. Eijirou smiles down to him, curious and prompting him on while basking under the lights of a newborn day. Izuku is smitten. “I’m glad I met you.”
Izuku’s eyes flutter close when the redhead threads his fingers between his curls in response.
‘Yes… I’m really glad I did… ’
-
Only after Izuku wakes up again and regards the night before without any remnants of liquor on his system, is that he realizes that he’s known Eijirou for longer than a year now.
-
They get wind of a rumor, vague and baseless as any other, but heeding it might bring high chances of finally finding the princess’ whereabouts.
Izuku is a tad skeptical. A dragon is not usual, yet not exceptionally rare. As far as they know, where a dragon is, there is also a treasure and in extension – more often than not – a captive princess.
They leave Shinketsu behind to ride to Ketsubutsu Kingdom.
They ride in silence as Izuku keeps mulling over everything, from the acceptance of his own feelings to the fact he’ll be facing a dragon – a fact that any other time he’ll find exciting but as of now, it makes him anxious.
What is going to happen after they defeat the dragon? What if the princess is there? Are they going to duel for her? Eijirou didn’t want to, but how else would they settle that issue?
As if sensing his turmoil, Eijirou secures his hold around his torso and gets Izuku out of his thoughts.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Eijirou reassures with a smile that Izuku hears rather than see. Izuku’s eyes flutter ever so slightly when the redhead threads his fingers in his curls. Intimate and familiar, reassuring and comforting. “Your princess’ gonna be alright. We’re gonna save her.”
Izuku cringes inwardly.
‘Your princess’ Eijirou says, and Izuku should be happy because this means the redhead has no interest in taking her as his. The thing is, Izuku doesn’t either.
“Kirishima-kun…” He begins, and Eijirou hums questioningly, hugging his torso again. “After we save the princess…I was wondering— I-I want—”
‘To stay with you, to live more adventures together, to travel to the end of the world, for you to fall in love with—’
“—you’ll get to marry her. Don’t worry, Midoriya. I want you to be happy after all!”
Izuku’s heart breaks a little. He pursues his lips and keeps quiet. He doesn’t know what to say after that.
-
After three days on the road, they reach Ketsubutsu Kingdom. Upon their arrival, the townspeople cheer as if they’re heaven sent, convincing Izuku that the rumor is not as baseless as he had thought.
The first day of their arrival is saved for a talk with the villagers and a well-deserved rest before going dragon hunting. At sunrise of the second day they begin to walk towards the mountain, following the trail to the top where the dragon’s lair supposedly is.
It’s hard not to find a creature as huge and majestic as that.
Izuku is in awe. No tales, no rumors, no legends could have prepared him for such a sight. A winged, scarlet and fire spitting dragon stands in their way. He falters for a brief moment. Eijirou though, grins excited, unfazed in the face of danger.
The redhead turns to him. It lasts a second, though for Izuku, it feels like eons. There’s no words needed; bravery shimmers in Eijirou’s eyes and Izuku’s feels it spreading in his chest as he looks at the fearless demeanor of the prince he fell in love with.
‘If you’re with me I can do it,’ Izuku thinks as he unsheathes his sword.
He smiles with all the bravery he can muster, then he looks ahead, where the end of his journey is.
-
It’s harder, far more difficult than they thought but they make it. They defeat the dragon not without a couple of sacrifices here and there. Their swords – One for All and Sturdy Steel – lie on the ground, broken and shattered.
If it weren’t for their quirks, they might not have won.
Eijirou is lying next to him, battered, exhausted, victorious.
“That was…” Eijirou trails off with a wheeze and Izuku fills in the blank in his mind.
‘Dangerous, awful, scary…?’
“Awesome!”
Izuku stills. They just fought a dragon to the point that Izuku thought they were stepping on death’s threshold, and the first thing Eijirou does is laugh it off and call it ‘awesome’.
It’s impossible for Izuku to contain the giggle that little by little morphs into a gleeful laugh. “You’re crazy, Eijirou…”
This is who Eijirou is; a prince charming that never lets anything – a rip off in the market, a worm on his apple, a close encounter with death – diminish his true self.
Eijirou’s shoulders starts to shake, and then he’s laughing too, echoing back Izuku’s mirth.
Izuku feels invincible as they relish in their shared triumph. They’ve won fights before but the feeling of elatedness he feels now makes any other instance pale in comparison. He wonders if having feelings for Eijirou makes everything more intense. Is this is the way that he will feel from now on that he– ?
Oh. Izuku realizes it a second later.
It must be the adrenaline running through his veins, it must be knowing this is the end of their journey, it must be both what makes Izuku’s laughter starts to diminish and morph into sobs.
“Midoriya…” Eijirou props himself on his elbows and crawls to him. Izuku can’t bring himself to look at him. His weeping halts when a hand cradles his face. “Hey! It’s fine! She’s not here but we can still try to find—”
“No!” Eijirou flinches at his outburst, and Izuku sniffs loudly, trying but failing to compose himself. “I don’t care about the princess! I mean I do—but I just…I want to keep traveling with you … I know I’m being awful and selfish but I—I want to be with you!”
Eijirou’s expression twists into a sad frown and Izuku is suddenly hit with dread; he never meant to blurt his feelings aloud.
The weight of the realization that this is as far as they can go together is too heavy on his heart, and that coupled with the stretching silence, finally shatters it. More tears to gather in the corner of his eyes because has he ruined their friendship? Has he lost Eijirou’s trust now? Has he—
“Me too!” Eijirou yells, prompted urgently by his tears.
The redhead looks as if he’s relieved but also as if he’s about to cry.
“Kirishi—”
“No. My name, you… you used my name before…I liked it…”
Really, Izuku can’t deny him anything and so he takes a deep breath before he smiles. With his eyes still wet and his heart on the tip of his tongue he calls, “Eijirou.”
The blinding grin he gets in response is everything he needs – or so he thinks until Eijirou says, “Let’s stay together, Izuku.”
Izuku’s tears keep falling but this time, they’re from joy.
-
“There’s no princess. That’s the only thing I can think of,” Emi Fukukado proposes as she bandages his arm.
Izuku drops his jaw, and it takes three full seconds for him to fret. “B-but the stars! They guided me to the forest where she was supposed to be!”
“Stars are temperamental, boy. Besides,” She gives a long look at Eijirou who shifts in his seat and smiles nervously at the other end of the infirmary. “Maybe it wasn’t a princess what you were destined to find.”
“But—”
“Hey c’mon … the stars are not always right, and if they are, we usually misinterpret their meaning,” she explains, laughing it off and making Izuku’s worries lighter than his mind had allowed them to be.
Izuku sighs and lets the conversation end there as Ketsubutsu’s leader moves to treat Eijirou’s wounds.
There’s a party in their honor that night, and Izuku has never eaten and drunk so much in his life, not even back in his kingdom in his party when he came of age.
Even with the contagious happiness of the people, Izuku can’t dismiss the little splinter engraved in his mind. It’s really hard to believe everything he did for almost a year was for nothing.
“It wasn’t,” Eijirou claims when Izuku makes an offhand comment about it. “We meet each other, after all.”
The redhead takes his hand, as if to reassure him. There’s no way Izuku can keep feeling unsettled when Eijirou’s peacefulness – contagious and candid – seeps through his grasp, steadying him through the waves of uncertainty.
“I think I have the answer for everything … I kinda figured it out long ago…” Eijirou confesses and Izuku blinks, encouraging him on. The redhead hesitates for a moment and adapts a sheepish demeanor. “Remember the witch?”
“The rude one?”
Eijirou laughs. “That one!”
“Everything he says is a prediction,” Izuku repeats Eijirou’s words from back then. “He said follow your heart … but I was just pointing random places.”
“You followed your heart, I followed mine…”
Eijirou never suggested a direction, never put a stop to Izuku’s fruitless instructions. “You followed your heart?”
Eijirou draws a soft smile, and this feels as if it’s the moment in which a balance tips, a promising interlude.
“I followed you.”
Izuku holds his breath as a wave of expectation washes him in warmth and hope.
Eijirou grasps both of his hands with his, and hastens, “Listen—I… I suspected there wasn’t a princess almost a month into our journey. Because the moment I saw you I thought that finding you instead of a princess was better. I think—I wanted you to be the princess.”
Izuku snorts, good-naturedly.
“I knew you were a boy and I still wanted to kiss you. ‘This is my fated one’ I thought and even if I was against marrying someone I don’t love, I felt something when I saw you… Is that possible? Because, Izuku– I think I liked you the moment I saw you, and when you punched me I felt so happy because—”
“– you’re so weird Eijirou, why would you –”
“– someone so manly and beautiful, and then we spent time together and I just – I fell in love with you... ”
“Me too!” Izuku exclaims between broken laughter as joy dances uncontrollably in his heart. “I fell in love with you too. And I’ve always wanted –”
Izuku doesn’t get to finish. Eijirou takes his words away with his mouth.
‘—to do that’ Izuku finishes in his mind as he returns the kiss; his first, to his true love— one he’s not afraid to give along with his heart to the prince of Riot, Kirishima Eijirou.
-
“Where to now?”
Izuku smiles as he takes the reins of his own horse; a gift from the people of Ketsubutsu.
“There,” he points to the horizon.
A kiss on the palm of his hand is his answer followed by, “Yes, my prince!”
Pointing wherever is so easy now that he knows that his heart is anywhere, as long as Eijirou is by his side.