Chapter Text
It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe… the rain made him feel icier still against the cold storm breezes. Shouto Todoroki, the now runaway Prince of the Kingdom of Endeavor couldn’t feel anything but happy though. After an intense fight with the guards who would keep him caged, and after a drop off a bridge that should have meant his death, Shouto found himself free.
He never thought being dead could be so great… and yet, he wished to live to fully experience what life had in store for him. Tired and dragging his feet, Shouto slowly made his way into a cave. The place was warm and dry enough he could use his fire magic without it fizzling out. In his state he wouldn’t make it long without a doctor… he could pull through long enough to get to a village… except he didn’t know where he was.
As he contemplated his chances, he heard sounds coming from deeper still within the cave. At first, Shouto put up his guard, brought forth an ice dagger and a fireball to make the point that he IS dangerous. The sound turned out to be footsteps of some kind, and as they got closer Shouto recalled the stories of bandits having headquarters in caves in the neighboring land of Obsidian. It was thanks to these memories that he started putting things together.
“Get away or I’ll take us both out.” Shouto declared, raising one bloody left hand, flickers of fire licking his skin as a threat.
The stranger stopped and laughed at him.
“Try it, halfsies.”
And he did. For a second Shouto forgot he was in pain, he stood up straight as his left side blazed with bright red flames and his right side shimmered with frost. He dashed at his stunned opponent and tried to land a fiery fist. He didn’t make it… just as he approached the stranger his vision grew dark and he ultimately passed out.
There were many things he thought might happen if he ever woke up again. Particularly, he expected to wake up just as battered with tied up hands, ready to be taken to a slave market these foreign lands were supposedly famous for… he did not expect to awaken in a soft bed inside a cozy cave chamber fashioned into a bedroom.
Shouto attempted to sit up but found it difficult, he was hurt all over and covered in clean bandages. Someone had gone through the trouble of patching him up and making sure he was comfortable too… and judging by the place he was in, it had to be—
“Good morning, princess.” The voice of the stranger he’d last encountered caught his attention.
Shouto looked in its direction to find a tall, burly man with ash blond hair and bright red eyes. He was smiling cockishly, smug. His clothes consited of a pair of black pants, cream colored hunting boots and nothing else but a set of necklaces made out of red and turquoise beads. He had a large tattoo on his upper left arm, the ink had the “I” symbol in its center.
“I’m not a princess.” Shouto replies in monotone still trying to asses in how much danger he’s in.
“You’re right, I just confused you for a damsel in distress… your magic is terrifying… I would fucking love to see you try to fuck me up again.” Katsuki sounds mocking, yet somehow Shouto can tell he’s not exactly lying.
“What do you want with me?”
“Nothing you don’t want me to.” The man shrugged before approaching. “You fucking took a dive from somewhere pretty fucking high judging from your wounds. You must’ve walked miles in your condition before brazenly declaring you’d kill us both on my domain.”
“It’s not like I had a compass.” Shouto wasn’t amused, he had questions and this bandit was giving him the roundabout.
“Che, I don’t think I’ve met anyone with your bite Icyhot.” The barbarian continued to display his amusement, feral grin on his face as he approached. Shouto’s left side sparked at the attempt to come closer and the blond stopped, eyebrow raised in question.
“It would be a shitty way to thank me if you set my very expensive skins on fire, dumbass.”
“What the hell do you want with me?” Shouto asked again, the sparks getting brighter.
“…For fuck’s sake—“ Katsuki rolled his eyes annoyed. “—Can’t anyone do anything for the good of it these days?”
“No.” Shouto immediately replied.
“Seeing as you’re this confused…” the blond continued his approach, Shouto still flaring, before he sank to his knees by the bed.
The man then took something out of his pocket, a ring with a bright red, round stone as its main piece. It wasn’t anything intricate but Shouto could tell it wasn’t just any stone.
“Is that… a magic reservoir?”
“Yes.” The blond placed it on the bed, offering it to Shouto if he so wished to have it. “It’s powerful enough you could save something like a complex healing spell for when you decide to take your next swan dive off whatever tall place you find.”
“I’m not planning to do that again, not on purpose.” Shout replied, sparks dying out as he eyed the ring. “What’s the catch?”
“There is no fucking catch. What part of I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart can you not understand?” Irritated the blond glared Shouto’s way. The bandits irritation was amusing, so the runaway prince couldn’t help his lips curling into a genuine smile.
“Uh, shit—“ the blond mumbled taken aback. It seemed like he could be surprised as well.
“Well, I can’t really let you do all this for me solely out of the goodness of your heart. Did you go through my things?”
“No, the fuck you take me for? A bandit?”
Shouto gave the man a deadpan expression, prompting the latter to groan annoyed yet again.
“Would you be so kind to bring me my satchel then?”
“Fuckin— aye.”
A quick come and go later, the blond hands over Shouto’s satchel. There was something that he didn’t need but was sure the barbarian would like.
“Here it is.” Shouto pulls out a beautiful dagger adorned with sapphire crystals. While its intricate hilt’s design may have given the vibe that the dagger was meant to be just an adornment, the metal the blade was made from was meant to be in battle.
“A Dragonforged blade.” The barbarian immediately recognized it.
“It’s yours, for all your help…” Shouto places the blade on the bed before taking his fingers to the ring the blond had offered. “Something of mine for something of yours.”
The blond looked stumped, far too surprised to process what was happening as quickly as he should have.
“That’s your choice of words—“ The blond shook his head and then looked at Shouto with a serious expression. “Are you sure you want me to have this?”
“Seems fair… you want to accept it, don’t you?”
Shouto could tell the barbarian was overthinking things, he could see a thousand thoughts go through his bright red eyes before he became sure.
“Alright, Halfsies.” He said taking the ring. He raised his hand, asking for Shouto’s.
A bit confused but not really wondering about this whole matter, Shouto gave the man his hand.
“I, Katsuki Bakugou, offer you something of mine…” Katsuki then placed the ring in Shouto’s hand.
Oh, was this a weird way to introduce himself formally? Shouto concluded that it was only proper to do the same in return. He took the blade and asked for Katsuki’s hand too, and in the same way…
“I, Shouto Todoroki, offer you something of mine.”
Katsuki’s eyes opened wide as Shouto placed the blade’s hilt on the barbarian’s hand. For a second, Shouto could’ve sworn he saw a blush on his cheeks.
“Fuck.” Katsuki mumbled before he shook his head, almost like trying to snap himself out of a trance?
“All fucking right, I’ll leave you to rest. I don’t know complex healing magic but I patched you up with basics. An ifiot best friend is on his way here since I can fucking tell you’ve got a good amount of broken bones and are in need of an actual healer.”
“Hmmm.” Shouto hummed as he put on the ring, Katsuki staring at him with… was that bewilderment? “I’m not in much pain.”
“Courtesy of a family recipe. I’ll bring some more after my extra sees you, but don’t FUCKING dare make rough movements.”
There weren’t many ways in which his escape from his family’s clutches could have ended… but as Shouto admires the scar riddled muscular back of his current host, he figured he was insanely lucky. Katsuki, whatever his real motivation was, wasn’t about to harm him… and if the man was so willing to have him while he recovered, it gave Shouto time to figure out his next move. The logical thing would be for his father to think he was dead, so he had to plan to live on in secret.
“…Halfsies…” he whispered, taking a hand to his hair. “I’ll have to dye it…”