The Journey To A Hero (My Hero Academia Fantasy AU)

7. A Long Way.

"Well, we can't just stand here," Uraraka signalled to walk, "Iida needs to see his brother, so let's walk." The group looked at Iida, who still kept his head down, "You don't have to do this for me, I'll go alone, no problem." "Don't be silly, Iida!" The mage exclaimed, "We will gladly come with you!" Midoriya gazed to Todoroki, "Is that alright? Maybe All Might is in Hosiun." He shook his head, "No, that was the first place I came to," Iida rubbed the back of his head, "It's okay, you can take Shoba, we'll go by foot,"
"No, I'm going with you, maybe we'll find some clues." Midoriya stroked his chin, "Yes, that's true, Hosiun is a big city." "Well, let's go then,"

It was a long and boring route, grazing sheep, distant windmills and small farms were the only thing to see. Midoriya and Uraraka began to hum out of boredom, Iida hadn't said anything in a long while, the others knew he was sad and needed some time to progress, and had silently agreed to give him all the time and space he needed. "How long until we are there, Todoroki?" asked Uraraka, tiredly looking at the prince sitting on the horse, they had decided to take turns so they could have a bit of rest, "Uraraka, it has been three hours, we have another thirty or so left." "Aw.." She lowered her head a bit, "I didn't expect it to be that long." "Do want on Shoba?" Before Uraraka had answered he climbed off, "Only if you have no problem with it," she hesitated. "It's alright, I'm not tired anyway."
Midoriya thought about how much todoroki had changed since when they first met him at the bar, he changed for the better, that's for sure, the snobby and arrogant prince had become caring and gentle, and it made him realize how little he actually knew about his companion. "Hey, can you tell me something about yourself?" "Hm?" Todoroki looked up, a little confused, "You know, like how is your family, what kind of hobbies do you have?" He looked down, he felt ashamed but couldn't explain why. "Well... My family is kind of complicated, see, my old man going to become king someday, And I will too." "What's it like to be part of the royal family?" Todoroki gave a faint smirk, " It's horrible, everyone expects something from me, I don't want to be a king really, and I don't want my father to become one either." "What's wrong with your father?" "He won't be as good as All Might, no one will."

The young prince thought about the king, he was truly loved by his subjects, all because he didn't treat them as subservient, but as equals, as family. He remembered the parade six years ago, Todoroki was nine and he was asked by his uncle to join him in the royal carriage, he got to hand out flowers to the citizens of Hosiun and he got loads of gifts, including a pretty flower crown given to him by a little girl. It would have been one of the happiest memories he had, only if he hadn't come home to his old man who took all gifts from him, he tried to explain how All Might was terrible for his people, only wanting attention, not really caring about his well being. Every time that Shoto got to do something fun ended in the exact same way. He knew Endeavor was just jealous of the attention that his brother got, and that he just couldn't wait for his turn, it was rather obvious, he saw it now, but it did hurt him as a young child. He felt like he had no parents that supported and loved him. Not since his mother left:
She came from a very rich family, not royal as he wanted, but Endeavor saw an opportunity in her. Her families riches could help him as the future king. After the wedding, he started to love her, the money didn't seem to matter anymore. but a year after Shoto's fifth birthday her family got bankrupt, and eventually, the man she thought truly loved her, lost interest. She got mentally unstable, not trusting anyone anymore, Endeavor got tired of seeing her, so she was put away. Todoroki was scared of visiting, did she still love him?
Slowly he started to sob, Midoriya looked at him, confused, he didn't mean to hurt him, of course he didn't. "Are you okay?" he wiped away his tears, " It's okay, really, I just remembered my mother, that's all."
After another few hours of walking it started to become dark, they passed a big willow, "Let's take a break shall we?" suggested Midoriya, they all sat down in the grass, Todoroki fed his horse some apples, "Do you want to stay here for the night?" asked Uraraka, "I think it's the best option we have." he said as he rolled out his sleeping bag, his friends did the same. "Goodnight, everyone."

"Are you sleeping?" Midoriya woke up to a voice he hadn't heard before, he tiredly opened his eyes, the others were still asleep or were woken up by the same voice, he rubbed his eyes and searched for the source of the new voice, he found it; a young merchant stood over him, the most remarkable thing about him was his bright yellow hair, that had a black streak in the front formed like a lightning bolt. "Sorry if I woke you up," he held his hand up and waved at the four "I'm Kaminari Denki, but please call me Denki," "Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you" "Hello, I'm Uraraka Ochaco," "Iida Tenya," "Todoroki Shoto," Denki sat down next to Midoriya, who still was in his sleeping bag, "Where are you headed to?" "Hosiun city," he answered "Well, that's where I'm going too! Want a lift?" Midoriya looked over his shoulder too Uraraka, Iida and Todoroki, they all nodded, "Yeah! We would like that!"
The merchant threw all their baggage on his wagon and helped them on it, after everyone had taken a seat, between all the crates and barrels, he climbed on the front bench, "Let's go to Hosiun!"
"Does a painter brush his teeth with a toothbrush or with a paintbrush?" "I don't know." It had been five hours since they met Denki, and he just wouldn't stop talking, It began as a normal conversation about their interests and goals in life, but the last hour had been full of the merchant's questions. "If it is true that this sentence is a lie, is it the truth? Can you wish to make your wishes come true?" "..." "Can you cry underwater?" "Why wouldn't you be able to..?" "If I eat myself entirely, do become twice as big or do I disappear?" "What?" They had all tried to sleep at one point, but he just wouldn't shut up, Iida and Midoriya had tried to answer all questions in the beginning but they had given up after an hour, Uraraka covered her ears in agony, Iida had started crying, Todoroki was about to jump off, and Midoriya gazed before him, not blinking, wondering where it had all gone wrong. "Oh! Are eggs fruit or vegetables?" "They are neither..."
"Why is it-" "Oh!" interrupted Uraraka while happily pointing into the distance, "I see Hosiun!" "Finally!" They all were glad that Denki offered them the ride but they were so glad that it was over, Todoroki and Iida sighed loudly, Denki confusedly joined in with all the excitement.
They hopped off the wagon one by one, thanking Denki for everything he had helped them with, he did save them a full day of walking. "Well, I hope we'll see you again!" Denki tipped his hat, "Goodbye!"

[A/N]l
Shoutout to __missed_me__ and Bootjecadootje for coming up with all of Denki's questions, also, both of them are writing bnha fanfiction that's worth reading, so please check those out, they helped me a lot throughout the entire story.

Thank you for reading! (*･ω･)ﾉ