Serendipity [Bakukami]

Chapter 19

Katsuki ends up convincing Denki to dip his legs in the extremely cold water, and it took a lot of convincing and almost whining, much to Midoriya and Todoroki's delight.

"Why is the water so disgusting? Ew, ew," Denki whines. "It feels like literal sludge—ugh."

Midoriya and Katsuki hesitantly look at each other. Denki doesn't notice them, and he continues speaking, "So, where do you guys take water from then? 'Cause I thought you used this—but this one is definitely unsanitary."

"Uh, no—we do use this," Katsuki says somewhat stiffly.

"What?! How in the world—you can't bathe in this, Bakugo. It destroys the purpose of cleaning," Denki gasps. "Oh wait, do you guys, like, poop here or something?" Katsuki and Midoriya splutter, stuttering when Denki continues.

"No, no—Your High-uh, right Denki," Midoriya starts, confusing Katsuki. Since when were they on a first-name basis, again? "This is the drinking water. We do not— we do not poop in this, obviously."

"The fuck?" Denki almost screams, completely uncaring of the Queen's no-swearing rule in the castle. "You drink this? Midoriya, no wonder people here are dying. Do you know the cholera pandemic was because of unsanitary water too? Oh god, no—"

Katsuki and Midoriya coax him into going to their house instead of marching into the castle and burning it down.

"Your Highness," Katsuki starts, only to receive a glare in return. "Right, Denki, we can maybe get some tea? Mrs. Midoriya makes amazing tea, I swear."

The moment they entered Midoriya's house, there was a huge chaos right in the middle of the hallways. Right, Midoriya was in a joint family.

"Let's go to my room, please. These kids would never give us any privacy," Midoriya skillfully dodges any kid that came his way.

"I'll ask Aunty to get us tea," Todoroki says, already walking away. Denki peeps outside the door of Midoriya's room (which was actually shared by 3 people) watching the kids play hide and seek, their giggles making his day.

"Do not fool yourself because of their smiles; they are menaces," Katsuki grumbles, getting comfortable on Midoriya's bed.

"You know," Denki starts, "I've always wanted to live in a loud house like this. It's fun, and there are people around, not just servants who were apparently scared of being hung to death if they accidentally let slip that I was dead to the world," Denki adds nonchalantly, noticing Katsuki stiffen next to him. "I know," he says.

"But, I'm confused. Uh, Denki, sorry, it's still weird and new, but why would the Queen do that? You are her son; she wouldn't be that evil, right?"

Just then, Todoroki comes with tea, sliding one towards Denki, who takes a grateful sip and almost moans at the taste. "Woah, this is so amazing," he adds, thanking Midoriya. He finds Katsuki a little red and takes it upon himself to check his temperature. "Are you sick? You look a little red, Bakugo," Katsuki shakes his head furiously, glaring at Midoriya and Todoroki who had trouble controlling their laughter.

"Anyways," Katsuki clears his throat, "back to the topic," he adds, looking at Denki to continue.

"Ah, right. Midoriya, I'm telling you she isn't my mother."

"I mean, Denki, I get that you hate her, but—" Midoriya starts.

"What? No, she is not my mother. She's not my biological mother," Denki interrupts.

"What?" Katsuki gasps, his eyes blown wide as Midoriya and Todoroki splutter.

"Yeah, no one knows this, but the Queen is not my mother. My dad fell in love with a commoner after marriage. He was forced to marry the Queen because of traditions, but he started secretly seeing my mother, the commoner, a few years after that. His first son, that is the Queen's son, died in the war, right? The Queen found my dad with my mother in his room three days after their son's death, so drama happened. The Queen loved my dad, but my dad loved my mom, so she ended up resenting her."

"Dad always talked highly of my mom, but I've never met her. She died while giving birth to me. The King loved the idea of raising me, so he faked a story that I was born to the Queen, which of course she absolutely hated. So now I'm officially eligible to become the King, but I'm not a pure blood."

Katsuki hums in understanding. "So the Queen now thinks you are the reason their marriage was ruined?"

Denki hums, placing the tea cup on the table nearby. "And she's upset because I get to be a King while her son, who deserved it, died."

"So she's trying her best to put your crowning away so she could rule the country as she wished," Midoriya hums thoughtfully.

"Yup, but I'm surprised she found me suitors though. I mean, why get a dead son married," Denki dryly chuckles.

Midoriya mumbles to himself, "Suitors... wait!" He gasps out loud, "Your High—sorry, Denki, did you ever have a good experience with these suitors?"

"Uhm, no? A few tried to kill me before Bakugo was assigned to me, even after actually, and a few even tried to touch me, disgusting."

"Fuck," Midoriya curses, surprising everyone in the room. "Denki, they were assassins! Of course, they were. The Queen hoped that they would kill you somehow, but you managed to escape all the times. She must've expected you to fight back, but you usually ran away or Kacchan's dad protected you. Oh, then she assigned Kacchan because the Queen thought he was a kid and wouldn't be able to protect you—"

"That makes so much sense!" Katsuki answers loudly. "She always belittled me in terms of being a kid and not knowing what I'm doing. I thought it was just her bitchiness."

"Uhm," Todoroki starts, "Do you think she's planning something today too? Maybe that's why she gave Bakugo and his father a day off."

"Fuck!" Denki screams, cringing when whom he assumes to be Mrs. Midoriya yells out, 'Watch your language; there are kids here,' from the kitchen.

"Castle, castle now, she can't know that I sneaked out," Denki breaks out in a sprint followed by the others. Denki's mind runs a thousand miles per hour, what if today was the day he was to be killed?