Izuku POV
It's been about three weeks since I told my friends about where I was that day. They agreed to help me to sneak out of the castle whenever I needed to. Though, whenever I come over to their hideout, they seemed a bit off. Like, they talk to me like a normal person, even if they never found out I was a prince with the hood I keep over my head. But... at times they looked like they've been keeping something from me.
I wonder why...
"Oi! You're not gonna improve if you keep staring off into space!" Bakugo blurted out and I left my train of thought.
"S-Sorry! It's just you're not making things easy!"
"Eh?? And you think I'm supposed to make things easier for you just because you're a prince? Not happening." He grinned at me as he dodged my attack.
Bakugo wanted to take me to the forest to help me build up my mobility, so far it's not going well. My goal is if I'm able to touch Bakugo I win the game, but if I fail I would get a punch from somewhere on my body. How am I able to catch him?!
"Well? Come on, is that all you got?" He asked cockily as he dodged me again. Dammit! I suddenly felt an impact on my spine and felt my arm being pulled. "How long have you been practicing? It's only been three weeks and I see no development!"
"That's... ngh! Because.. I have a busy... mm.. schedule!"
"Still... that's not a good excuse," I felt him let go of my arm and the weight has been left on my back. I groaned from the impact and got myself up and laid next to a tree. Panting from all the training we've done, I grew tired from fighting him. "Heh. It's only been ten minutes, and you're tired already?"
"Not my fault I've been in a castle all my life. I tried to get as much training as I could without my father noticing. Apparently, your method of training is quite different than back at home." Ouch! How am I going to explain this new injury I received?
Footsteps could be heard and I see Bakugo handing me a canteen of water. I smiled at him as I took the canteen from his hands and opened it to take a drink. "You wanna head back to Four eyes place to help get you patched up? It'd be easier than going to the palace and having your sister fix you up."
"As much as I would, it wouldn't be right. Besides, he has other things to worry about, right?" I stopped drinking the water and handed it back to him.
"And what are those other things is he dealing with? Hm..?"
"Can't say. That information is classified and it's best if you don't get involved," he replied as he helped me get off the ground, he accidentally pulled me up and I landed on his chest. I immediately pushed myself away from him.
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean too! It was an accident!"
"Tch. Don't go apologizing, it's really annoying." He said and scrapped the wrinkles off his sleeves. "If you say sorry again, I'm gonna smack you across the face. Got it?"
"Erm! Yes Bakugo! I'm so-! I mean, I won't do it again." Nice save Izuku, nice save. Rustling could be heard, and I see him walking away from me. I tilted my head a little bit to the right as I watched him leaving me. He then stops and gives me a quick glance.
"Come on, I wanna show you something," he said and continued to walk. My feet moved on their own and I quickened my pace until I was next to Bakugo. I felt something touch my hand and looked down to see his hand grab mine. "Stay close, it's likely you could get lost in these woods."
"...yeah, sure." We continued walking next to each other as we still went on this dirt path. Having to climb over rocks, walk across a river with a rock path, moving bush branches aside, why are there so many obstacles...
"Stop whining, we're almost there..." he said as he pulled me up to another rock. This had better be worth it for how long it took us to get to this certain destination.
Bakugo let go of my hand and went forward and turned to the right. At first, I didn't know what was there, but I wouldn't want to waste this walk with him after all we went through.
The shining sun made me look away when I finally got here, on the other hand. I fluttered my eyes open and all I see was a view of the kingdom. Looking astonished at what I'm seeing, I slowly walked over for a better look. I can see why this is amazing... the trees look like a place to sit down and relax based on the shape it has.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice spoke out, looking to the left I see Bakugo sitting down and kicking his feet back and forth on the cliff.
"That's a bit unsafe, don't you think?" I asked and went to sit down next to him, but criss-cross applesauce. All he did was shrugged his shoulders and looked at the view. With just being to hangout with him almost everyday or every other day, I feel relaxed and not stressed. Why is it that? Why does he make me feel whole again?
The whistling breeze was all I could hear, and Bakugo broke out in a sigh and scooched a little bit and laid down on his back.
"Why be unsafe, when it's boring? We just have to take risks in cases like this. Not that hard, Deku."
"I wish you would stop calling me that. I don't like how it means useless."
"Meh. It's not my fault you didn't come up with a name. Besides, it's a cuter name than Izuku Yaoyorozu. You and your sister don't even look alike."
"That's because we're not even related. She's my step sister, older step sister." Bakugo heard what I said, and I could hear him push himself up and his breath being heavy.
"Did something happen with your family?" He asked as he leaned in and wrapped his arms around his knees and looked at me.
"Kind of. I don't know." I groaned and laid down on the ground. I noticed him looking at the view and bent a little close. I heard him pick something off the ground, and a shadow hovered over me. Giving me a red poppy flower.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He smiled and put the flower right by my left ear to keep the flower in my hair. Bakugo's shadow didn't hover over me anymore and laid down on his side with his elbow supporting him.
"Why is it that whenever it's just the two of us you're calm around me, but not by your friends? Hm?"
"Tch! Shut up, do you want me to listen or not?!" He shouted at me angrily. There it is.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" I giggled over his actions.
"Stop laughing, I don't want you to rush but I have other things to do today." He said while making a small pout and looked away from me. Is he blushing or am I just seeing things?
"Alright," I replied as I looked up at the clouds that form as a ship. "It started when I was only a baby. I never had a father in my life because he died in the war and my mother was still pregnant with me. I've always wished I had a father in my life, that's all I asked for. But, the universe hates me anyway and I ended up with a trashy father. I started to wonder if he was only acting nice when my mother was still alive."
"Oh? So, you have daddy issues?"
"Ha, Ha. Very funny. But, yes I almost sadly do. When I was seven or eight, my mother then remarried to him and that's when I met Momo. In my opinion, I don't know how he didn't corrupt her, but I don't care. She really cares for me, and we both look out for each other. Though, back at home. We would sneak out of the castle and hand around the extra food we have to the villagers back at home."
"Oh yeah, ha? Are you trying to copy what I do?"
"Psh! You wish, we both had the idea to help out our people." I replied, my hand reached to my chest and grazed over the ring I have around my necklace. "I started helping out others because of this person."
"Huh? You mean that ring? Who was this person you're speaking about?"
"I never got a good glimpse at what they look like, but they hold a special place in my heart. I was chased out by Monoma when he was pulling another prank and trying to hide from him in the maze. It worked, it worked too well and I got lost. The only thing I could do was cry. But, someone saved me. They laid out a rose petal path and next thing I knew my mother was hugging me." I choked back at my words when I mentioned the thought of my mother.
"Did something happen between you two?" His other free hand reached over my face and caressed my cheek to wipe off a tear off my face. Was I about to cry? "It's stupid to see you cry. Honestly, sometimes we just have to suck it up at times." He told me and all of a sudden he pulled me to where I was. He leaned in closer to my face and slightly closed his eyes but stopped. "We should head back now, don't want people looking for you."
His hand patted my arm and got himself up on his feet. Reaching his hand out to ask me if I need any help. "I'm okay, I'll catch up."
"Suit yourself," he said nonchalantly and walked away from me. I want to stay here a little bit longer and enjoy looking over the clouds. I just want to close my eyes and take in the quiet sounds around me and take a nap.
"It's stupid to see you cry. Honestly, sometimes we just have to suck it up at times."
It sounded so familiar for some reason... I wonder why...? Slowly my eyes started to drift off to sleep. Away from all my problems.
~
"Achoo!"
"Dammit, he caught a fever in the rain. Kids these days are so careless," a nurse puffed out a breath of frustration and put a cold wet cloth on my forehead.
"Monoma! What did you do this time?" A man asked a boy next to him.
"It was just a prank, he just gets scared too easily." A boy named Monoma answered back. "He just needs to learn to take things as a joke." Then he started cackling about his accomplishment. I'm gonna kill him one day.
"Aye yai yai I got to have a talk with him. Please take care of Izuku, I have other business to attend to," he ordered as I saw him take Monoma away from him.
"I feel bad about him getting sick. Do you think there will ever be a day where he stops pranking Izuku?" The other nurse asked.
"Highly doubt it. I raised my kid with discipline and he turned out fine." She replied and squeezed the water out of the cloth and replaced the cloth from my forehead with a new one. "All you need to do is rest and feel better the next morning, okay?"
"O-Okay..." I sniffled and fell asleep. This would've been easy, Eh? No it wasn't. After the nurses were gone. All I did was tossed and turned around the bed and kept waking up with the sneezes. It's so tiring, I want this to be over. The pain is killing me!
A sudden knock echoed throughout the room and I heard the door open. It was so quiet, the only noises that could be heard were footsteps and my constant sneezing. I couldn't see who it was because of my puffy eyes from all the sneezing, but I could tell he was just a kid.
"I came to give you some medicine the nurse made for you." He replied as I heard a clank on the nightstand. "Allow me to excuse myself and let you rest." He said. The kid was about to leave my side, but I tugged on the cuff of his sleeve while having my head down. "Ha? What are you doing?"
"Please... Achoo! Please stay... I don't like being alone..."
"Hm? Aw Geez, are you seriously that much of a fraidy cat?" He scoffed and picked something up and set it down on the floor. "Fine I'll stay, so stop crying will ya? Honestly, sometimes we need to suck it up at times."
"Thank you.. who are you?"
"I'm just a kid, whose mother is a nurse, but I'm mostly a kitchen boy."
"Really? Does.. that mean you can cook?" I asked him, there was a faint chuckle I heard from him and died down fast.
"I hope to become a chef someday and let others enjoy my food! But, my mother wants me to follow my father's path as a doctor instead."
"Heh... guess we're in the same boat, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess we are?" His head turned to where my nightstand was and picked something off of there. "What's this?"
"Oh... that's a book I picked up at the library before I fell asleep."
"'All Might vs All for one' is where you stopped. Why pick this book out of all the other series?"
"It's.. my favorite. Well, the third book is my favorite. It's the... Achoo! Climax to his first part as a hero." I smiled weakly. Then he burst out laughing. "Wh-What's so funny?"
"Ha.. Ha.. nothing. I just like the way you think because that's my favorite part too. I'm not supposed to do this, but sometimes I would sneak into the prince's library and read books." He whispered to me.
"Do you think you can read it to me?" I asked.
"Of course, princey!" He exclaimed as he opened the book. That was how it went through the day. He read me a story about All Might and he was pretty good at telling the story. We talked for hours about the book series and it was all fun until his mom came in and dragged him out.
The next day I got better, but the boy that came in yesterday caught my cold and was put to bed. I wasn't allowed in the infirmary after that and I never saw that boy again. I wonder what happened to him?
~
"Oi! Get your ass up and let's go!" Bakugo woke me up from that dream and I immediately woke up and rushed out of the spot I was once sleeping and caught up to him.
"Come.. on.. I.. was having.. a good... dream," I panted out of breath while letting out a yawn.
"Don't care. You can sleep on a mattress back at his castle? Do you get enough sleep?"
"Of course I do! I get plenty of sleep!"
"Well you better get enough sleep for tomorrow, because we're going to visit the herbalist in a day or two, so get some damn sleep!"
"Understood!" I felt a lot more relaxed now after taking a nap. Maybe I should come up here more often and take in the view of the kingdom. I almost felt like I was king of the world.. but I can't be king when Monoma is the king, I'm just a man who's assigned as queen...
A/N: A new chapter has arrived! I haven't really said anything in my previous chapter, so I'll just say it now. Happy pride month everyone! I'm straight, but an ally. I support the LGBTQ+ community and everyone deserves love! If you want to know how I keep writing, sometimes I put on a movie that I've seen or haven't seen in a while and let it play while I work on the chapter. Can be a bit distracting, but it helps me.
Now time for another fun fact about "The Merman from Ashore"! Fun fact: Mr. Compress was going to be in it, but I didn't have enough time to add him, so he got cut. He was supposed to be an illusionist to help them out with the plan to capture Midoriya! I was sad I didn't get to put him in, maybe next time!
As always, have a good day or night, take care of yourselves, wash your hands, wear a mask, stay safe, eat plenty of food, drink lots of water, and get a good nights rest. Bye! Again, Happy Pride Month!