Archive of Our Own

“But I don't need one!”

“Katsuki I don't care about what you think you do and don't need! You want to go wherever you want whenever you want? Then you need to take a guard!” Katsuki let out a sigh that could only be made by the likes of an over dramatic tween. He didn't know how to make his mother understand that he was stronger than all the guards they had available to sit around and follow him. But his mother was INSISTENT. He knew there was no point in arguing with her, because he would always lose.

After many more minutes back and forth with his mother, she eventually wore him out of arguing and he stomped and sulked all the way back to his room, all three floors. He fell into a cushion in the corner of his room, picking up the book he was previously reading, and continuing from where he was interrupted (still sulking of course). He was slowly lulled to sleep by the comfort of his room and exhaustion from yelling, letting the book fall softly on his bare chest. 

He was woken up by an abrupt, BANG BANG, on his door. He vaguely heard a voice say something to him. Disoriented from sleep, he must've told whoever it was to come in. thinking it must've been a maid, or Izuku had come back early from his trip to come to scold him again about yelling at his mother. He lifted his head and sat up, his jewelry ringing softly as the gold bumped against each other.  He finally looked up at whoever was in his room, only to be met with an unfamiliar face. He panicked. Jumping out of the cushion he sat on in surprise. He fell with an unceremonious thud. His jewelry chiming loudly as he hit the ground as well. The boy rushed over, putting his hand out to him, but Katsuki just grabbed the large book he was reading and threw it at the boy. He stood up and ran around the boy to the other side of his room, putting a few good feet between him and the unannounced guest in his room. The boy turned around, having caught the book thrown at him, set it down gently on the cushion and stood facing Katsuki. 

Katsuki finally got a good look at the intruder, he was around the same height, had long dark hair that was pulled back with the shorter pieces falling forward to frame his face. He wore loose fitting black pants with a sword strapped around his hips. He had a tight black under shirt with no sleeves and a high collar, and a dark red shawl wrapped around his chest and shoulders, clipped on top of his left shoulder with… the military brooch. Katsuki dropped his hands and fell to a squat, taking a deep breath from the situation. Of course it wouldn't be an intruder. It was the new guard. He stood, this time almost as if sizing up the guard, he was shorter than Katsuki and couldn't have been much older than him either.

“Who are you?” He asked, almost commanded, trying to sound like he didn't just embarrass himself in the first 10 seconds of meeting him. The boy quickly put his heels together, his left fist over this heart,

“ My name is Eijirou Kirishima, 12th division, 6th rank.” the boy, Kirishima, repeated. 

“They sent a 6th rank?” He thought “Usually palace guards were at least a 4th rank, and personal guards were known to be 2nd ranks… strange”. Quickly throwing out his thoughts about the boy’s rank, 

“How old are you?” Kirishima looked excited to be asked another question,

“I’m fourteen, I will be fifteen this fall Your Highness” he smiled, seemingly thinking he created some familiarity with the young prince, who had turned fifteen earlier in the spring. Katsuki made an unapproving sound and turned on his bare heel and walked out the door to his room, and walked down the long hallway. His light colored pants hung low on his hips as he walked, the gold belt adorning its appearance. The prince was almost silent as he walked, except the light chiming of the gold on his body. The topaz necklaces, the gold bangles on his wrists and ankles, and the long dropped earrings were everyday wear. With the simple gold and topaz diadem which solidified his rank peeking out of his hair. 

That boy, Kirishima, had followed quickly behind him but ruined the perfectly crafted ambience that usually followed the prince. His heavy leather boots echoed through the halls as he walked a perfect six paces behind him. At least he was trained well.

He walked out of his room with no real plan as to where he was going. 

“You don't have to follow me around like a lost puppy” he chirped, hoping that might hurt the young boy’s ego a bit. 

“Your Highness, I am under strict orders to accompany you everywhere during all your waking hours, I must follow you.” He sighed, that old hag must really hate him.

Katsuki spent the rest of the day trying to lose the boy, but he seemingly never got bored, and was not easily distracted from his job. He had even followed the prince into the bathhouse, keeping his back turned but still aware of where he was. As the moon rose and the hot summer air cooled, he thought he would be free from his new dog. Except this boy was now standing at the entrance of his balcony waiting for him to fall asleep!

“I am able to fall asleep by myself.”

“All waking hours Your Highness, all waking hours” Katsuki grumbled, throwing the thin blanket higher over his head to try and block out the boy’s presence in his room, and the echo of his leather boots in his mind

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The Prince eventually fell asleep and Eijirou was relieved from his duties for the day. The maids had told him that The Prince was an extremely heavy sleeper, so he had no need to stay the whole night, that he usually rose a little after dawn, and that he was able to enter the palace at dawn. He yawned as he made his way back to the barracks to sleep for the night. He knew the reputation that The Prince had gained, he was unapproachable, mean, egotistical, and thought he was better than everyone at everything– mostly because he was. Eijirou tried not to dwell on his first day too much. Of course it would take more than a few hours for The Prince to warm up to him. So he laid down for his well deserved sleep and let himself fall into sounds of soft gold chimes in his mind.

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The next days would follow in a similar fashion for what he thought would be the rest of his life. Kirishima would wake up before dawn, ready himself for the day, journey into the palace as the sun rose, he would knock on his door, and stand at the entrance as he got ready for the day. It appeared that he never realized just how much time went into the appearance of a prince. He would pick a new color of pants from the day before, putting the gold belt over top. He then applied sunscreen to his entire body. When Kirishima dared to ask why he was met with a long tirade about how everyone is ruining their skin by going out in the sun unprotected, and then forced a small blue jar of the product at Kirishima. He would then put on his jewelry and was very meticulous about how it sat on his body, and what order the many bangles he wore were in. On this particular day he also wore an embroidered shawl to cover his torso, which he regularly kept bare.

“It is not cold today, Your Highness, why are you wearing a shawl?” he asked, walking his perfect six paces behind. Katsuki had also grabbed his bag today, the cloth material lay across his body and was filled heavily. He groaned,

“Today I am to resume my regular meetings with one of our lead Academic Scholars,” he responded, “it is forbidden to enter The Royal Library in indecent clothing, the chest and legs must be covered” Kirishima reacted for a second before unpinning the booch on his shoulder, letting his shawl cover his chest in whole, repinning the booch on the top of his pants. 

Katsuki had honestly hoped the boy wouldn't have said anything, so maybe he could at least do his lessons without the presence of the guard. But apparently the gods couldn't have given him this one thing. 

He was happy to resume his lessons, he would never admit it but he had missed seeing his Instructor everyday. Hakamada was smart and collected, which was perfect for the fiery young prince. The prince also came to respect him not only for his academic achievements but he had also won Best Dressed in the nation's yearly rankings eight years in a row. The two entered the library and found his Instructor sat at a low table at the far side of the bookshelves. He stood, greeting the prince, and giving Kirishima the same greeting as well, he panicked slightly and returned the unnecessary gesture. Hakamada almost immediately began adjusting Katsuki's shawl, pushing pieces of hair around, and adjusting how his necklaces sat. And Kirishima began to understand where The Prince had gotten his habits about his appearance from. 

Kirishima stood silently against the wall, listening passively while the lesson went on. What the prince had failed to mention was that what sounded like just one session was actually a mulit-subject whole-day event. Every few hours they would switch topics, Mathematics to Modern Literature, Economic theory to Foreign language, Current World Affairs to Ancient Literature and Language. After four hours they were greeted by a maid, who had brought a meal for them, and– to his surprise– one for Kirishima as well. He eventually went from standing, to leaning against the wall for support, to sitting on the hard ground, to laying on the ground and eventually he claimed a cushion from another table to sit on while he waited. 

There were a few subjects he had tuned into, like Military Strategy and Current World Affairs, but he found his eyes feeling heavy while The Prince and his Instructor analyzed poetry from hundreds of years ago, in a language that vaguely mirrored their own.

“Thank the gods” Katsuki sighed, he had been waiting for the guards eyes to close and his breathing to slow. Hakamada let out a low chuckle from behind the blue veil that sat over his nose and mouth. “What's so funny, old man?” Hakamada met his eyes and smiled, 

“He seems eager, good potential”  he said, glancing at the sleeping guard in his library,

“I don't really care about his intentions or potential, I just wish he'd leave me alone for one goddamn minute, I haven't had a single moment alone for weeks” Katsuki’s head hit the table with a soft thud. He felt a hand gently touch the back of his head, as its owner said,

“You say that now but there may be a day where can’t stand the feeling of being alone, so it is important you be grateful for what you have here now” Katsuki pushed the hand off his head, scowling at the touch,

“Whatever old man, just continue with the book”

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Katsuki's lessons took up four of the seven days in the week, and Kirishima almost consistently fell asleep for a few hours during them. He had asked Hakamada once if he could get the boy reassigned for sleeping on the job and was quickly scolded by his teacher for suggesting such a thing when Katsuki himself fell asleep consistently for the first year of his lessons. Hakamada had also granted Kirishima permission to explore the library and bring any tasks he wished to work on during this time. It was rare, but the guard would occasionally wander off and come back a few minutes later with a book to read, and he even began to get some of his military tasks done during the lesson. He would sharpen his sword a lot too, which was a lot more well-kept than Katsuki would’ve thought. It had a red wrap on the handle, and along the blade where people would regularly engrave quotes, sat the single word: unbreakable. The long blade was probably the most well kept thing on the guard’s body, and when he slept in the library he kept it hugged close to his body.

Katsuki spent the next day noticing how Kirishima treated his sword. When he walked he always kept his right hand on the hilt, when he sat he would put it across his lap, hugged it in his sleep, and periodically pulled the hilt out to reveal a small sliver of iron, like he wanted to make sure it didn't disappear when he wasn't looking. That night he was doing this again, pushing the blade out with his thumb while he waited for the prince to fall asleep. Katsuki could hear the soft shing – shunk of the blade’s rise and fall from under his blanket. Autumn drew closer, meaning the night was colder, but the doors to his balcony stayed open till it snowed, he peaked out from under the cover to see Kirishima standing there. He hadn't spent much time looking at the guard, hoping maybe if he didn't see him, he could forget he existed. But here the guard stood, the moon provided a soft light against him, a cool breeze blew into the room, and revealed some of the length of the guard’s hair as it blew in front of his body. He stood smiling down at this sword, which he continued to push in and out of its sheath. Before Katsuki could fully process what he was looking at, their eyes met. Katsuki quickly threw the heavy blanket over his head, letting out a pitchy “goodnight Kirishima!” in response. The boy chuckled a bit, and let out a whisper that Katsuki wouldn't have been able to hear if his heartbeat was any louder, 

“Goodnight Your Highness”

Eijirou thought about the interaction as he traveled back to the barracks, laughing louder at the overly pitchy goodnight that The Prince had wished him, and accidentally waking one of his fellow soldiers as he walked into the dorm,

“Kirishima what‘r gigglin ‘bout o’er there?” the older man grumbled in his half-awake half-asleep state,

“Just Tetsu-Tetsu sir, please go back to sleep”

“Hmm that boy does sleep weir’—” the snoring in the barracks resumed as Eijirou laid his head on his bed. He had a fleeting thought as he left but decided that he must've imagined it, was that the first time The Prince ever called him by his name?

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Autumn came faster than expected, and as the nights grew longer so did the amount of time Katsuki took getting ready in the morning. The new fashion came suddenly to Kirishima. Soldiers simply got an undershirt with sleeves, thicker pants, and thicker shawl. His Highness however was more intricate than the simple soldier. He kept the long wide pants, finally wore socks around the palace, and paired it all with a white undershirt and full length, burnt orange wrapped robe. The robe was embroidered with grey smoke clouds and a red dragon that took up the whole back panel. Kirishima was enamored with the artwork. He spent hours walking behind The Prince, watching the dragon move in front of him, almost as if it was flying along with the two of them. Luckily for Kirishima's interest in the robe, His Highness wore it as his everyday coat. 

Today Eijirou found himself standing behind The Princes’ Throne in the Audience Chamber. He wasn't quite sure why they were in the chamber all alone. The Prince sat with both feet up on the chair and using his knees as their own armrests. He appeared.. Fidgety. Like he was expecting something. The sidedoor opened and the Emperor and Empress came walking out. He suddenly felt extremely fidgety as well, they were the ones who gave him this job, and they could easily take it away from him.. Hell they could banish him for looking at them wrong. The Royals sat down in their respective seats next to their son. The Empress turned to him, scowling,

“Katsuki sit properly” she scolded, The Prince grumbled, put his feet down, and crossed his arms in a sulking manner. The tension in the room became too much for Kirishima, he walked forward around The Prince's seat, down the few steps of the platform they sat on  and fell to one knee on the floor.

“Empress” he bowed his head, “Emperor” he bowed his head again, “ Forgive me for not greeting you sooner” his head stayed low till he heard a small laugh from The Empress

“Please rise, dear” Eijirou had never stood up faster in his life. His eyes met with the Empress’ and she gave him a soft smile, “do return to your post dear, I do hope my insufferable son hasn't been too much for you” she said, with a slight side-eye to The Prince, who just grumbled under his breath and sulked harder. He quickly went back to his post behind The Prince’s seat.

Soon after the main doors swung open, a few rows of 4th rank guards were escorting a small group of travelers. The soldiers moved to the sides and the travelers became clear to Eijirou. The group was fronted by two older men who appear to be the “leads” of the group. One man appeared exhausted, his black hair was seemingly tussled and messy from whatever journey he had returned from. Where the other man’s silver hair was slicked back, and he wore a red fabric veil over his nose, similarly to Hakamada.

“Aizawa! Kamihara! How wonderful to have you back!” The Empress greeted, the two men bowed quickly as she stood up to look at the group, “and you brought all the Scholars back! How wonderful, they are all in one piece too!” she tried to joke, only her husband let out a soft chuckle at the comment. The two men moved to the side to reveal five kids still dressed in their traveling clothes. They bowed to the Royals together before the tallest of the five stepped forward,

“I apologize for my abruptness, Empress, but,” the boy pushed up his glasses and pointed directly at Eijirou with an assertive stare, “who is this?” Eijirou quickly began to unsheathe his sword at the somewhat threatening gesture. Two others from the group quickly ran up to pull the boy back, they pushed his hand down and stood in front of the boy. Eijirou held his glare and began to pull the rest of the sword out but was stopped when The Prince put his hand out in front of him.

“They’re no threat,” he said flatly. The Prince stood up and began to walk towards the group of travelers, Eijirou sheathed the sword and followed The Prince down the steps. He stopped in front of the group and turned to face Eijirou, He points at the two young girls who had stayed put during the whole interaction, “The one with the purple hair is Jirou, and the other is Asui” the two girls nodded at the introduction, he then pointed at the two who had pulled the taller boy back, “the girl is Yaoyorozu and the nerd is Midoriya” they nodded apologetically and the shorter boy gave a slightly offended glare at the prince and then shared the same apologetic look at Eijirou, “And this oaf,” The Prince pointed at the taller boy, “Is Iida,” Iida continued to look down at Eijirou with caution, “Now, Scholars.” The group turned to the prince and gave him their full attention, “this is my personal guard, Kirishima, get used to him.” The Prince did not look for their opinion on the matter, he simply turned on his heel and walked away. Not to his seat, but to the side door they had entered through. Eijirou followed suit with practiced normalcy. Eijirou felt a strange sense of pride that he got to follow the prince, and that it was everyone else' s job to familiarize themselves with his presence, but he quickly pushed this pride deep into his heart as he followed the prince into his room. 

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A few weeks had passed since the arrival of the Scholars, which Eijirou learned was what they "officially" called the students of the royal palace. Iida has also since come to Eijirou personally to apologize for his rudeness, but that he quote “was unsure if they knew you were there, standing menacingly behind them” unquote. Asui and Jirou had teased the boy for his abruptness, but sympathized because apparently, “the royal family doesn't let just anyone stand behind them, so you were either very important, or an assassin”. He had been embarrassed by the notion that he was “someone important” and reassured them that he was neither important or an assassin. 

The students were very interesting people to Eijirou, their personalities (mostly) didn't fit what he had thought Royal Scholars would be like. During their weekly meeting, His Highness bickered with Iida and Midoriya, Asui tried to sneak away from their meeting more than once, Jirou had fallen asleep on multiple occasions, and the only one who seemed to get anything done was Yaoyorozu. 

“We are forgetting the real reason we are here.” Yaoyorozu stated, three hours into their meeting, “we wanted to properly meet the new edition!” she exclaimed, looking at Eijirou. His cheeks flushed as the five students all turned their heads to look at him. She patted the cushion next to her, the one between her and The Prince, beckoning him to sit. He shuffled awkwardly against the wall he was positioned at for few seconds before he heard, 

“Sit down.” It sounded like a command from the prince, but it lacked any gusto, more like a request. 

“Ah, o’okay” he awkwardly walked toward the round table they were all sitting at. Yaoyorozu shifted to make more room and Midoriya had gotten up and sat between Jirou and Iida. as he sat down he realized they now looked less like they were all sitting together but more like they were interviewing him. The prince however did not move, and Eijirou was acutely aware of how close he was to him. 

“Sooo,” Yaoyorozu started, “tell us about yourself” she smiled, putting her head in her hands

“What do you wish to know?” he said awkwardly,

“Anything really,” Jirou chimed in, looking interested in their conversion for the first time in past three hours,

“Well,” he breathed out, “ I am Eijirou Kirishima, 12th Division, 6th rank, I’m currently stationed as His Highness’ personal guard. I am to not leave his side for all of his waking hours, keeping a respectable maximum of six paces or more behind him at all times” he had added the end on instinct, like he was reading the entire job listing for these people. Asui sighed,

“Are you always this formal?” her question surprised him, 

“Yes?” he questioned, all five of them chuckled at the answer, 

“There is no need to be formal here, we’re all the same age anyways, please speak casually”  Midoriya chimed in, “ speaking of age, when were you born?” 

“In this month actually,” Midoriya looked excited at this. This had caught the attention of the prince, “it is next thursday” 

“Ah! So soon!” Yaoyorozu said excitedly. 

They spent the next half hour asking Kirishima various questions about his life. Katsuki pretended that he wasn't listening by flipping through a book that sat on the table but his mind would occasionally lock in on the conversion. Kirishima was originally from the high north, and lived near the barracks at the border. He grew up around the soldiers, so at ten when they allowed him to begin training it was a no-brainer. Apparently there was another boy in his division his same age; Tetsu-Tetsu. His favorite color is red, he likes meat, his favorite animal is a dragon, and he wants to become a soldier who is able to protect those he loves. But Katsuki wasn't paying attention really.

Those five became very comfortable speaking to Kirishima, they would occasionally look for him specifically, not saying anything to Katsuki. 

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Today was Thursday. It was Kirishima’s Birthday. And for some reason Katsuki had woken up today before dawn. The sun hadn't begun to rise, and he finally figured out when the guard began his day. He could see the freshly woken up boy from his balcony windows, walking casually into the palace to begin his day. He backed away from the window and walked over to his desk. Picking up the small package that a maid had placed there sometime during the night. It was wrapped in a dark red fabric with small orange and gold flowers embroidered sporadically. He spent one too many minutes looking at it before he remembered that the recipient was making his way closer and closer to him. Katsuki quickly put the gift in his bag, and ran back under the cover of his bed. He didn't want Kirishima questioning why he had woken up any earlier than normal. As he laid there he could hear the door to his room open and close softly. Those familiar leather boots echoed through the room as the guard took his place by the balcony doors. Katsuki lay there till he could see the sun peek under the thick blanket. He pretended to slowly awake with an overacted yawn, and was met with an even more familiar, 

“Good morning, Your Highness” 

Eijirou’s Birthday had been fairly uneventful but enjoyable, it almost felt like a break of sorts, but he'd never tell the prince that. His Highness got ready in the morning like normal, with all the regular pieces, except for the new winter coat he had apparently acquired. It was a deep red color, with very small orange and gold flowers embroidered across the whole garment, and it was wrapped and fastened with a black belt. The palace had suddenly turned cold that morning so the new coat was warranted, but Eijirou found himself secretly giddy about the fact that the prince and him now matched. For he had also switched to his long, deep red coat, with a black belt fastener. However Eijirous was made more for standing outside for long periods of time, as it was hooded and had a white fur along the entire edge of the coat. He couldn't help but think that the prince would look better than him in a fur edged coat. The morning was filled with sitting in the library and reading. Despite it being one of the princes’ off days he liked to use the time entertaining himself with the topics he didn't regularly study. And after a short lunch, they took a walk around the entire palace, like, the entire palace. Eijirou found the whole place rather fascinating, there was and entire hall way filled with old family portraits of all the generations of royals, including a portrait that was painted shortly after the birth of the prince,

“That's you?” He asked, joking slightly as the two stood in front of the old portrait. 

“Ive told my mother we need to get a new one, but she hates sitting for them.” the prince scowled at the picture, and the painted baby scowled back.

They visited the Main Ballroom, which was much bigger than Eijirou ever imagined,

“In theory we’re supposed to be able to house the whole country in here” the prince shared, his voice echoed through the massive room, “but there hasn't been any events worth of holding a ball recently, my mother is trying to convince me to have one for a birthday someday, like my twentieth or something” he veered off, almost like he was forcing himself to share.

“You know how to dance?” Eijirou asked, smiling at the idea of a frustrated prince trying to learn to dance,

“Yes. Luckily my lessons have moved on from such things.” he turned, walking back to the door to the halls. Eijirou stiffed back another laugh at the image of Hakamada trying to teach the prince to dance.

They saw all the workers' offices and dorms, including the wing that the academics lived in; the prince pointed out his parents’ wing as well. Eijirou had noted how little he ever saw of the two royals, but figured they were probably busy running the country or something. They reached a set of double doors outside the kitchens, the prince opened one of the doors, and let out a gasp as he looked outside.

“What is it? your highness?!” Eijirou pulled the door fully open to see what had shocked the prince. He was met with a flash of white as the door opened to reveal what had once been a beautiful garden was now covered with a thick layer of snow. The flakes dropped slowly and carefully, swirling gently as the wind blew in through the doors. Eijirou glanced over at the prince, who was glaring out at the snow like every flake had personally offended him. “ Your highness doesn't like the snow?” he asked, guessing based on his reaction, 

“No, I like the snow. It has just ruined the rest of my plans for the day.” he grumbled, turning on his heel, away from the door. Eijirou closed the door behind the prince and followed as usual. The two spent the rest of their time lounging around the library again, they ate with the Empress and Emperor and when the sun set they settled into the prince’s room for the night. The prince had seemed restless since entering his room. He would glance around near his desk, then at Eijirou, then back at the desk. The prince sprung up from where he was seated and sat down at his desk, pulling out a piece of paper and writing something. His highnesses room was the only place where Eijirou didn't necessarily keep close distance with the prince, giving him at least a little bit of privacy. He reached over to his bag, pulling something out and quickly setting it down in front of him on his desk. With his back turned to Eijirou, he couldn't quite tell what the prince was doing, but it wasn't much of his business anyways.

The prince stood after a few minutes, walking around the room to put out all the lights for the night. He walked over to where Eijirou was standing, in his normal spot, in front of the locked balcony doors. The snow had continued to fall throughout the rest of the day, creating a layer that fell slightly below his ankles. The prince walked by closer than normal, but didn't say anything as he went to lie down. 

Only twenty minutes later, Eijirou heard the prince’s breathing slow to his sleeping pace. Minutes later he took his leave, and began, the now slower, trek back to the barracks. The snow crunched under his boots, and had begun to melt on his face and hair. He hadn't really thought to put his hood on as he practically ran out of the palace to go back to the barracks. The prince had definitely tried to be smooth, but Eijirou took obvious notice of the item dropped into the pocket of his jacket as the prince walked past him. He didn't want to bring any attention to it while the prince was awake, and waited till he was alone in the barracks, as he didn't want to feign nonchalance to questions from his fellow soldiers. He untied his coat, set it on his bed, pulled the curtains around his bunk and lit the small oil lamp that was on the shelf inside. Only then did he dare pull out the item from the coat’s pocket. It was a small wrapped box. The deep red fabric it was wrapped with had small orange and gold flowers embroidered sporadically around it. He gently untied the wrapping like the whole thing would turn to dust if he wasn't careful. The box was the same deep red as the fabric, he opened it slowly, the gold hinge snapped open to reveal a simple red omamori, the long top loop was strung with three decorative pearls, all red in color as well. Underneath the omamori was a small folded piece of paper with his name elegantly written on the front. He flipped the paper open to read:

“For your sword. Happy Birthday. Katsuki B.” 

Eijirou had left the barracks earlier in the morning than usual, telling himself it was just because of the snow. The day was uneventful, as most of their free days were, but Eijirou found it hard to miss the small smile that graced the prince's face whenever he glanced at the omamori that swung gently from the tip of the swords handle, the same place where Eijirou’s right hand always rested.

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Winter had come and gone in a flash, the snow had melted and the coats had been tucked away for the spring. The palace had begun to awaken, the windows opened as the maids cleaned out the dust from the winter. Katsuki had been wanting to spend his time outside after being confined for the past few months. So while he had acted annoyed by the group of scholars begging him to join him on their trip to the Capital Market, he had been secretly excited for the outing today. Kirishima was also technically invited by the scholars as well, even though he would've been going anyways, he seemed touched by the invitation and seemed happier about this trip than Katsuki or even the scholars were. It was only as he packed his bag for the day that Katsuki realized why.

“Do the Soldiers get freedays? Are they allowed to leave the grounds?” he asked as they made their way to the carriage  

“No we don't. If a soldier isn't under a station, then they are in training, or doing individual training, or their tasks” Kirishima responded from behind him, he was earnest,

“Dont they want at least one day off?”  he could almost hear the smile on the guards face

“Most people who become soldiers don't wish for any freetime, so most don't even notice. But there are occasions where a soldier is granted time outside of the division and grounds.”

“What kinds of occasions is this time granted to? Katsuki asked as the two sat down in the carriage, finally seeing the boy’s face for the first time today as the two sat across from each other and the vehicle began to move.

“Marriage is the most common reason, as well as the birth of children. Higher ups sometimes will leave for the day when their children get married or graduate too.” 

“So you've never left the grounds? You must've spent time in the capital before becoming a soldier,” Katsuki commented, attempting to pretend that he didn't want to know more about the boy. When he had sat with the scholars and told them about himself, it was obvious that he was leaving out some personal details, like his hometown and why he’d become a soldier in the first place. Kirishima's smile faltered for a second before it became a somber version of what is was before,

“If I had ever been to the capital, it was before I was able to remember. I’ve lived on the grounds since before I became a soldier” Katsuki decided to not pry on the obvious fact that Kirishima was leaving out a lot of context to this information, and after seeing a sad look on the usually happy boy’s face he couldn't help but feel bad for asking.

“The capital is…fun, you’ll like it. The market has just about everything you could think of buying and more. Plus the street food is good,” the last part came out honestly, without thinking, “dont tell chef I said that though” he added quickly. Kirishima smiled at the faux panic, 

“Your secrets are always safe with me, Your Highness” he responded, seemingly not out of habit, but because he truly meant it. And Katsuki had no reason to doubt the sincerity.

They had arrived at the market after the short carriage ride, the two exited the ride and met the scholars near the massive gates to the market. People spilled in and out of the area with ease, moving like one large mass. The seven of them walked through the area, stopping at every interesting stall and going into every storefront. The whole thing, while exciting to experience, also made his job significantly more serious. He had shortened the distance between the two of them, keeping his left hand on the prince's shoulder or back as they walked. Even more so as the word spread that the prince was there. People greeted him with reverence. Stores offered him free gifts and food, which he took with gratitude (and left small piles of gold coins in their jars before they could argue with him). While Eijirou had expected the adoration, he had not expected the many young girls who seemingly threw themselves at the prince. All of which seemed annoyed at the scholars’ presence and even more annoyed by Eijirou’s constant interruption of their advances. They were relentless in their attempts to touch the prince, to gently graze his chest, put their hand on his shoulder and laugh, or even hug the prince in one circumstance. Eijirou spent a lot of the trip simply pulling His Highness away from peoples’ embarrassing attempts to court him in public, and even more time questioning how they couldn't tell how uninterested in them His Highness was. The day was meant to be entertaining and relaxing for the prince, not a socialite event to perform at. After what had to be the hundredth time pulling His Highness away from a girl far older than him, they entered a small, fairly empty jewelry shop. 

The owner, an older lady, greeted them and continued to embroider a bracelet behind the counter as they looked around. The prince looked at most of the pieces for less than a second, but spent a significant amount of time inspecting the tray of Jade bangles, trying on the different colors, eventually finding his size, and looking at the other ones in the size. His hands lingered on the only two in a translucent lavender shade,

“Are you gonna buy one, Your Highness?” Eijirou asked,

“Most likely not, I'd only wear jade if someone gifted it to me, like my mother” he responded, setting the bangles down on the tray and moving on to the case of gold earrings in the corner. Eijirou took this opportunity as the prince was hunched over on the other side of the store, he grabbed the two lavender jade bangles, putting a finger over his mouth as he silently set a small pile of gold coins on the counter. The older woman looked up from her work, smiled, and slid two thin boxes at him. He quickly put each bangle in a box before sliding them into the small bag he had brought with him and settling in behind the prince again. 

The rest of the trip was the same, the prince had bought a few pieces of jewelry, a few journals, a handful of thin summer veils and a very large amount of books that would be sent right to the small library he kept in his room. Eijirou had only visibly purchased a set of three journals and a fountain pen during the trip, he did however also discover how the royal library was as big as it was after watching the group of scholars purchase a copy of every new book available on the market. The sun had begun to set as they were getting back into the carriages to return home. The prince let out a deep sigh as he fell onto the plush seats, he sat there with his eyes closed for a few seconds before dramatically falling to the side with another, even longer sigh.

“Does His Highness wish for me to inquire about his dramatics?” Eijirou said with a small smile, glancing at the prince’s faux fainting position. He laughed slightly before stretching out along the length of the seat, putting his feet upon the seat and his hands behind his head. 

“Everytime I leave the palace, people just seem to be more and more aggressive in their attempts, I apologize. I should’ve thought to warn you” Eijirou was surprised by the prince’s apology, simplifying shaking his head in return,

“There is no need to apologize to me, it is my duty to protect you.” he simply left it at that. The prince let out yet another sigh, opening his eyes and keeping them glued to the ceiling of the moving carriage.

“I don't quite understand how I am to marry someone I do not know.” he said quietly, almost in a whisper, like it was the first time he’d ever realized his feelings on the matter,

“I am sure,” Eijirou’s eyes met the prince’s, “that you will one day pick the perfect wife, and be a wonderful husband” the prince laughed, 

“What makes a perfect wife?” he said, turning on his side to look at Eijirou fully

“Well probably someone calm and collected, but has a strong enough will to handle you.” The prince smiled softly at the jab, "she's probably beautiful, can make you laugh, understands you, simply put— someone who is willing to be at your side for the rest of your lives” they sat in silence for a minute before the prince rolled back onto his back and closed his eyes, whispering something so quiet that Eijirou was sure he had misheard him, but the prince had fallen asleep before he got the courage to see if he truly had. In the end he decided that he hadnt  heard the prince say,

“He is definitely beautiful”

Eijirou had known that the prince was a deep sleeper, but hadn't thought it to be like this. Since he was unable to awake the sleeping prince from the carriage, he was now carrying the prince all the way to his room, silently praying for the sake of them both that he stays asleep. The prince would surely be embarrassed by the whole carrying situation but even more so by the fact that he had leaned into Eijirous hold and had his clothes in a death grip. He pushed open the prince's door, walked him over to the bed and tried to release himself from the prince's grasp. He was unsuccessful in his endeavors because as he set the prince down onto his bed, he was dragged down as well. He was pulled on top of the sleeping prince, mere inches between their faces. He tried not to focus on the smooth texture of his skin, how he shined in the reflected moonlight, or the slight sweet scent that he had never gotten close enough to notice before. He quickly pushed himself up, putting a significant amount of space between the two of them. It was then that he realised the prince was still dressed from the day. After deliberating for a minute he decided to simply remove the prince's jewelry and the clothes would simply stay for the night.

Removing the prince’s jewelry had turned out to be a much more intimate act than he had originally intended, from his ankles, to his neck, his wrists and the circlet which was tied around his head. As he put the last few pieces away in their respective boxes he remembered the two boxes that sat in his bag at the moment,

“I hope his highness does not think me a pervert for this, but I could never give it to you awake. I do hope you can grant me this one indulgence” he said awkwardly to the sleeping form, taking the one of the bangles out and pushing it over the left hand of the prince. He finally pulled the blanket over the prince and left the room for the night. It was only after he had gotten to his own bed and pulled the curtains did he pull out the second bangle. He thought this to be much more indulgent than his highness would ever permit, he may allow Eijirou to give him a gift, but if he knew the matching bangle existed in the palace, well Eijirou may wish his life as one well lived. He quickly slipped the bangle over his own left hand and threw himself under the covers. Hoping the blanket may hide what he had done to the world itself, under there he allowed himself to be comforted by the cool feeling of jade on his wrist and the lingering sweetness from his nose in his mind.

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The prince's birthday had seemingly come out of nowhere. It was sudden that the preparations were being made, they were to host a ball. The prince had described it as an “open ball” that everyone in the country was invited to. Eijirou would've thought that impossible, but after seeing the size of the ballroom, well it felt do-able. The prince had been dragged around by the empress for the past week, if it wasn't a fitting with the tailor, then it was a meeting with the chef, or it was the interior designers trying to pick the difference between milk white and eggshell white (which were apparently two different colors). But the best part of all the preparations was the prince having to resume dance lessons with Hakamada. The two were both decent dancers but he had to admit it was entertaining to watch them awkwardly go through an hour long lesson while not making eye contact once. 

“I don't even know why your making me do review lessons, its not like ill be dancing with anyone”

“Your highness must dance with as many suitors as possible, it is the whole point of such an event. And you will not be the only one doing so, everyone who is available to be wed will be doing so.” Hakamada stopped spinning with the prince and turned to where Eijirou was standing against the wall, “that reminds me, you will be of age soon correct?” he asked Eijirou,

“Yes sir, this October, October 16th to be exact” he looked Eijirou for a second before declaring, 

“Perfect, you come here then. Take that shawl off, and put that sword down” Eijirou hesitated for a second before Hakamada put his hand out, “I can hold it if that’s better” he unwrapped the belt from his hip, handed it to the man and set the military shawl on the ground where he was standing. A chill went through his chest as he revealed the solid black corset vest he wore everyday, the high mandarin collar of his matching black undershirt stuck out the top. Despite it being modest around the chest, the whole get up was sleeveless. He felt extremely exposed like this despite being more covered up than most.

“Ok Kirishima, please offer your hand to his highness” Eijirou had seen the two of them practice this many times and found that he had begun to understand it more than he thought. He bowed a perfect 45 degrees, putting his left hand out in front of his body. It was a second before he felt a gentle hand take his, he stood up to see the prince stood there, his left hand in his. He took a few steps forward, shifting the prince’s hand into his right and letting his own left hand sit gently against his bare waist. Eijirou can't say he remembers much of the impromptu dance lesson, his brain seemed far more focused on the feeling of the prince’s hand in his, the prince's hand on shoulder, and his own hand on his waist. 

Later his brain focused on other questionable memories like their bodies pressing together for a few moments through the dance, how the prince was just a little bit taller than him, and the familiar sweet scent that washed over him. All of this was pushed into the back of his mind after they had left the ball room, but now that he laid in his own bed, all the feelings came flooding back into his mind. Eijirou tossed and turned for what felt like hours before he was able to eventually fall asleep, dreaming of dancing with his prince in a crowded ballroom.

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Katsuki had been able to fall asleep for a moment, just long enough for Kirishima to leave for the night. It felt like his body knew when the door shut, as he jumped wide awake, and could hear muffled boots get further and further away from his room. He laid staring at his ceiling while his mind replayed the events from today in grave detail. He was deathly bored during his review lesson, when suddenly Hakamada turned away from him and addressed Kirishima. There was a joke that men from more modest countries felt overcome at the sight of a woman’s ankle or even just a sliver of skin, and he previously hadn’t ever understood how something like a shoulder could feel so intimate. 

The memory of him unclipping the shawl and it dropping to the floor played over and over in Katsuki’s mind. He’d always known what the soldier's uniform looked like but he’d never expected to find it so ... attractive. Soldiers were fit, of course they were, and he never paid any of it much mind. But for some reason the appearance of his guard in his extremely tight shirt and loose pants that became form fitted in specific areas where the muscle was too much for the fabric was an image he didn’t think he would ever forget. As if that wasn’t enough there was the fact of the bangle. Katsuki had noticed the one on his wrist when he had woken up in his bed that day, he knew it was a gift from the guard, however he had not expected to see the bangle’s pair on his guard's outstretched hand. He had moved without thinking, taking the guard’s calloused hand. As the two turned and danced, Katsuki found himself distracted by the feeling of muscle moving under his hand, and the gentle but solid grip the guard had on his waist. His mind kept going back to the bangle. Seeing it on the guard, it felt like a silent promise, one that not even Katsuki himself was supposed to know. His mind never really slowed as he fell asleep again, simply allowing himself to feel comforted by the memory of the soft touch, and imagine a world where the boy he was beginning to love wasn't on the other side of the palace but on the other side of his bed.

⋆˚꩜｡

The royal family sat behind their meeting table as business owners from around the country came to give their monthly proposals for new budgets and new projects. They did this every month, and every month Eijirou found it more and more boring. While occasionally someone would come in with a fresh new idea, most were simply arguing statistics for why their budget should be higher than their competitors. It got to the point where he could no longer hold back his yawns, ducking his head to appear at least a little more respectful. Every month they sat through this he became more impressed with the prince's ability to appear interested in the long presentations and their self-serving owners. He was sitting in his chair, leaning back and gently fanning himself with sunset painted handscreen. The prince would tell people the fan was to cool himself off but Eijirou knew it was to keep himself awake, from the fact that he could see the prince hide many yawns behind the screen and the simple fact that the prince had told him so. There were some perks to being around the prince for as many hours as he was, while many people knew him well or were technically his advisors and teachers, nobody had known as much as Eijirou did. And the only reason he knew that was because the prince didn't spend more than a few hours with anyone else, ever.

As his thoughts drifted and the current presentation came to a close, he forced himself to focus just for a moment on who would walk through the doors next. He expected maybe another well-dressed business man, a woman in her finest silks, or maybe another local shop owner. He hadn't expected to see his Captain walk through the doors. He instinctively stood up straighter, becoming the picture of perfect military posture. His thoughts now spun wildly, trying to imagine why his captain would be here, hoping it wasn't for him. He had gotten so wrapped up he hadn't noticed the way the prince's eyes flashed back and forth between him and the captain standing in front of him, or how his eyes thinned, like he was challenging whatever the man had to say.

“Captain Taishiro Toyomitsu, what brings you to us today?” the Emperor spoke first. The captain bowed quickly before he spoke, 

“I am hoping to have a small addition made to the grounds.” Everyone behind the table became immediately more awake

“What addition would you like to request Taishiro?”  the Empress leaned in at her own question, 

“I would like to utilize one of the many inner courtyards, well specifically the inner courtyard on the south wing, as a small training area. Everything would mostly remain the same, except I would like to store some training dummies, and as well as a singular weapon mount.” 

“You wish to turn the court yard in my wing into a storage area?” the prince asked from behind his fan, eyes still deathly focused on the captain.

“Of course not your highness, I simply wish to use the space-” his eyes jumped from the prince to Eijirou “well I wish to have it as a training area for Kirishima” the prince's glare was forgotten as he leaned in with his parents

“For the soldier? Why?” the Empress asked

“Well as you know all soldiers on assignment are still required to log fifteen hours of training, after discovering that Kirishima was completing his hours either early in the morning or very late into the night i thought it to be a poor use of his time. He would have more productive training during the day, but as he is unable to leave his highnesses side to go forty-five minutes down to the training area and I don't wish for Kirishima to take the prince to such a place like the training ground, I thought a private training area in the prince’s wing would be the most productive.” 

“I allow it, I’ll have one of the maids get a few dummies and mount the sword stand.” The Emperor and Empress looked at their son’s quick response with a bit of surprise before agreeing with him as well. 

⋆˚꩜｡

It was only a few hours later that the training space was available for Kirishima to use, so of course when the two had been notified Katsuki immediately decided that he should just complete his training for the day. The area was modest, the grass had been trimmed short to allow for smooth movement, a group of wooden training dummies were lined up in one corner, and in the opposite corner there was a small cushioned bench and table underneath a large red parasol with a singular sword mount on the wall behind it. The walls of the courtyard were low so the sun was unforgiving in its gaze down on them. Katsuki sat down and made himself comfortable on the bench, pulling out a book and a folding fan to save himself from boredom and the continuously rising spring heat. 

Katsuki didn't spend a lot of time looking at Kirishima. The soldier adamantly stayed positioned behind him and had even scolded him once when Katsuki turned around. So to keep peace they simply didn't look at each other face to face all that often. Because of this Katsuki’s brain remembered every time they did, vividly. Every night when he fell asleep, occasionally in the library, carriage rides, the day they danced, and he knew that he would remember this as well. 

While pretending to read his book he watched from behind his fan, he watched as Kirishima moved one of the dummies in front of him and slowly walked through a handful of stance drills. It would be crazy to expect Kirishima to spend all his training time in his layers but it was hard to not stare at the sight in front of him. Kirishima had taken off his shawl almost immediately, revealing a black silk high collar top underneath and after another thirty minutes of drills, that came off too. There were times when Katsuki had forgotten that the boy was a trained soldier but occasionally the reminder would smack him in the face, like right now. As he set the silk top off to the side Katsuki got a full view of the boy’s torso, his broad back and muscular arms on full display, his chest accentuated by the structured corset around his waist. Suddenly it felt much hotter out to Katsuki and he began to subconsciously fan himself faster. 

“Your highness, if it is too hot we can go back inside” their eyes met immediately as he said it,”  Katsuki's face began to feel like it was burning. He put the fan up, covering his mouth and rosy cheeks.

“No need, simply just feeling a little parched” he said, trying to not make eye contact with the shirtless soldier.

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The sun had stayed out long into the fall and unlike his birthday prior, Eijirou wasn't met with ankle high snow.  Like most of his days, he went to the prince’s lesson, accompanied him through his meals, as well as a short meeting with his parents. And as always when the sun set the two retired to the prince’s room. However his highness never prepared to sleep, simply lounging around on his sofa and reading for a few hours, writing in a journal and rearranging his closet. After a few hours of this Eijirou had to ask,

“Your Highness, respectfully, what are you doing?” The prince simply replied,

“Stalling”

“Stalling for what your highness?” The prince sat up from the sofa, walking up to Eijirou and peeking over his shoulder to look out the balcony windows. The prince flashed him a small smile,

“For that.” he whispered, patting his shoulder and pointing outside. Eijirou turned, seeing the group of maids headed for the dormitories. He turned back to see the prince with a long black cloak on the he hadn't seen before, with he bag tucked safely underneath,

“Why are you dressed like that?” Eijirou asked, hoping that the prince really wasn't thinking what he thought he was thinking, “are you trying to sneak out somewhere?”

“We are gonna take a short trip, come on” the prince opened the door gently, stepping out as quietly as he could. Eijirou of course followed quickly behind him. The two walked at the fastest pace possible while still being as quiet as possible. Eventually making it to the bottom floor where the prince led him out to the gardens, “the gardens have patrol rather than stationed soldiers, plus they're looking for people coming in not necessarily people coming out” He turned around, giving Eijirou a small smirk at his own comment. The two ducked behind a large hedge and waited for the soldier to pass by, Eijirou had smiled and stifled a laugh as the guard passed. They continued forward, out of the gardens and into a dense forest, only then did the prince ask, “do you know that guy?”

Eijirou perked up, letting himself laugh softly, “His name is TetsuTetsu, he's my bunk partner” the prince turned back again to look at him, “more importantly, where are we going? Do you do this often?” the last question came out a little too paranoid, worried for his job,

“Why do you think my parents wanted to assign a personal guard to me in the first place?” in the two years Eijirou had been in this position, he hadn't quite thought of why the prince needed a guard, but it was slowly beginning to make more sense, “ and no, I don't do this often, so there is no need to worry Kirishima” while he trusted the princes word, he still made a mental note to wait a little longer once he fell sleep

After a while of walking through the forest, it suddenly opened up. The water came up on the beach's sand rhythmically, the waves hitting gently under the moon which cast a beautiful glow on the ocean and illuminated the night. Eijirou couldn't think of anything, he simply just stood there silently stunned. The prince reached back, grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards the water and stopping right where the waves met the sand. He set his cloak and bag on the sand and rolled up his pants gently up to his knee, before gesturing towards Eijirou to do the same. He quickly kicked off his boots and socks, throwing them and his shawl off to the side. He reached for his belt for a moment, deciding to simply retie it crossbody, keeping the blade along his back.

“You really are never without that thing are you?” the prince joked, 

“It was a very special gift to me, your highness, i dont wanna risk anything” the prince let out a small hum at him and took a few steps into the water, Eijirou followed quickly behind . 

They walk out just far enough that the wave rises halfway up their calves, they walk the shoreline for a while, making it to the edge of the trees and turning back again. They walked in comfortable silence and Eijirou let himself indulge a little in looking at His Highness. The way his hair, which was usually braided or tired up in a bun, fell along his back. The gold blond color appeared more of a platinum in the moonlight. The cast of light made the prince appear soft, if he didn't know any better he would assume the boy was simply a figment of his imagination, because someone so beautiful could only ever appear in his dreams. When they made it back to their stuff, the prince took a seat in the sand, patting the spot next to him for Eijirou to sit in. So he sat.

“This is for you,” he turned his head to see the prince holding a small rectangular box, he held it out for Eijirou with one hand, turning his head in the opposite direction. He grabbed the black box and pulled the tab at the bottom to remove the contents. Out slid a silver hair stick, a single red pearl sat at the top with a small silver dragon wrapped around it keeping it in place. He just stared at it for a minute, unaware of who was staring at him. 

He looked up and met the princes eyes, before he could say anything the prince spoke again, 

“Happy Birthday Eijirou” The use of his first name short circuited his brain, he clumsily let out,

“Thank you, your highness” 

“No,” Eijirou looked at him confused, “it's not from the prince, it’s from me” he said the last part quietly, and Eijirou tried to not laugh at the rosy flush that poked through the blond hair.

“Well then thank you Katsuki” He turned to look at him quickly, leaving only a few inches between their two faces. They held eye contact for a few seconds before the prince began to lean in gently, Eijirou quickly shut his eyes and only reopened them at the new weight on his shoulder. He could feel the prince's breath on his shoulder, and he was hoping that he couldn't feel how hard his heart was beating against his chest. He lifted one of his hands and hesitantly set it on the back of his neck, letting the blond hair fall to the side. He eventually suggested that they make their way back to the palace after he felt the princes breathing slow, like he was falling asleep, but he never did feel the heat subside from the back of his neck.

⋆˚꩜｡

Being one of the Palace Scholars was a coveted position in this country, and being Prince Katsuki's lead advisor was a job that people would kill for. Except Izuku for he was wishing he was anywhere else most of the time. The prince was unstable, he was moody, stubborn, and frankly the one of the biggest assholes he had ever known. But his mother was a Palace Scholar, and he grew up in the palace alongside the prince.  Growing up together meant that the two saw themselves more as brothers rather than prince and advisor. Nowadays Izuku mostly was stuck in the library, learning political strategy or traveling around to further his understanding of the many cultures that existed in their world. So luckily he hadn't been subjected to spending a lot of time with Katsuki in the past few years, his constant nagging and chirping, ‘Izuku what are you even doing?’ ‘What do I even need an advisor for?’ I've never seen you make a single decision that even slightly affected my life’. There is only so much a boy can take really. 

He had been making decisions for the prince without him ever even noticing for years!  All that time he spent finding a merchant to make the exact style of clothes he likes, making sure all his meals don't have cilantro in them because he thinks it tastes like soap, making sure there is always updated copies of his study material, and new novels he's never read before, and even more so making sure all the new romance novels he would like are sent to his room as to not let the other scholars know. What an ungrateful brat. Only once had he done something just to piss the prince off and it backfired! He truly thought recommending to the empress that the prince might need a personal guard would be a cast off idea, he had said it just to be petty. He knew the prince liked to spend most of his time alone so someone there 24/7 would be the perfect punishment. He had honestly not expected the empress to accept the idea, let alone assign a soldier to the prince. Even more so, he never thought the prince would accept the soldiers presence. It was stunning, seeing the boy stand behind the prince in the main hall when they arrived home and to see the prince so adamantly defend him to the group. Seeing his petty plan fail was disappointing to say the least, but it was hard to be upset about it for too long. He had never seen the prince like this, all dressed up everyday, bumping shoulders with the soldier, smiling and laughing at something he said. But if the prince was gonna keep sending him letters asking him to retrieve different hyperspecific gifts for the boy then he's gonna have to start charging a shipping fee.

⋆˚꩜｡

Katsuki was beginning to dread his birthday every year, now only being one away from his 18th, closer and closer to the horrible experience of being courted by every single person, man and woman, over the age of 18. But per tradition Kirishima and Him, and the scholars too, are taking a day out of the palace to celebrate. This year they were taking a trip to a new market that opened on the east side of the capital. Izuku had recommended it, saying that they sold clothes and styles that Katsuki really liked. So of course they got in their respective vehicles and left early that morning to hopefully avoid the crowds. It had been a while since Katskui had gotten new clothes and he was secretly looking forward to getting some new stuff for himself, and maybe for someone else as well.

They arrived a few minutes after the shops opened and since they were basically the only people there, Eijirou felt less stressed than the last few times they had come to the city. Less people to worry about, and much easier to watch the people who were there. The group of academics wandered off almost immediately to go look in a store that was selling bookbags. 

“Is there somewhere you wanna go, your highness?” Eijirou asked, the prince looked around at the shops for a moment before his eyes locked in on a store a few doors down. He grabbed Eijirou by the wrist and began to pull him in the direction of the store,

“This way,” he said. They walked into a store that was filled top to bottom with colored fabrics, tops of different cuts and shapes, pants and skirts stacked so close together that they began to look like one mass of clothing on the walls. But while the prince was focused on what the shop was selling, Eijirou was more focused on the three employees whispering huddled behind the counter. The workers, two girls and a boy, couldn't have been much older than the two of them but the boy appeared the closest in age. The second they walked in, the male worker ran behind the counter, whispering and giggling with his co-workers. Eijirou noticed how the two girls pushed him and seemed to be encouraging the boy to do something, and only seconds later he could see the boy walking up to them.

“Is there anything I could help you with your highness?” the boy asked, his voice was a pitch higher than expected, and laced with a flirty tone. The prince looked at him, seemingly unfazed, 

“Do you have any pieces in red?” he asked, the boy put a finger to his lips and pretended to bite at a non-exsistent nail before crossing his arms and pouting to answer

“I mean we have gotten a whole new bundle of red pieces but i really dont think red is your color your highness..” 

“What would you know about his highness?” Eijirou answered before he could really process what the boy had even said. the worker turned to him, appearing annoyed at his presence,

“I mean it is my job.. Plus..” the worker uncrossed his arms and reached one of his hands towards the prince’s face to tuck a loose piece of hair behind his ear, “a face as beautiful as this should be in–” the sound of his sword unsheathing was quick and it was barely a second before the blade hovering dangerously close to the workers neck.

“You can look however you please and daydream about whatever you want, but touching is never permitted” he ordered. The worker sucked in a deep breath, and shakily let it out, sword still hovering.

“Kiri..” the prince smiled, not breaking eye contact with the scared worker, “it would be a shame if you got blood on these clothes, so please.” Eijirou huffed, not breaking his glare either, and slid the sword back into the sheath on his hip. The prince pushed the worker’s arm away from him with the end of his fan and looked behind the boy to the two female workers who stood frozen behind the counter, “could one of you show me your collection of red pieces?” one of the women nodded quickly and began to point to a room connected through a door. The prince walked over, looping his right hand around the upper half of Eijirou’s left arm and pulling him in the direction of the room. He was so thankful he decided not to wear his cloak that he almost forgot about the rage flowing through his head at the sight of this nobody shop worker.

⋆˚꩜｡

Weeks had passed and now Katsuki found himself standing in front of an empty travel trunk next to his bed and a very large amount of clothes to pack on top of his bed.

“Your highness, you should probably put something in the trunk before we leave tonight” Kirishima commented from the sofa, where he was currently sitting with his boots off and feet up, just watching him struggle. Katsuki shot him a mean glare at the comment which the soldier seemingly just ignored before continuing, “you at least know you need your winter cloaks so maybe start there” Katsuki sighed, reaching for the two cloaks, folding them and setting them into the trunk. After a while he finally decided on what he wanted to bring for their month out of the country and began to fold them into the trunk,

“How is it that you are already packed?” he asked the lounging soldier who was playing with the omamori on his sword

“Your highness I only have like two casual outfits, I only own uniform clothes” he responded,

“You wear the same clothes everyday?” he responded, disgusted at the implication

“No of course not! I just have multiple copies of the same uniform shirt and pants, I wear different clothes everyday!” he defended, standing up from the sofa 

“Mhm, sure whatever you say” he said, Kirishima let out a small huff of annoyance walking from the sofa to the bookshelf. Katsuki had noticed it immediately when he woke up but the boy had worn his hair differently today. Rather than a bun that held everything together at the top of his head, he opted for a bun-ponytail mix which revealed just how long the soldier's hair was, as the end of his hair reached somewhere around the lower half of his back still tied up. However the length was not the part that his brain focused on, it was the silver hair stick that had a single red pearl at the top with a small dragon wrapped around it that stuck out to the side on the top of his head.

Eventually Katsuki was fully packed and the two got into the carriage to leave. 

“So where are we going again?” Kirishima asked, he wasn't sure that the boy had stayed awake through the extremely long meeting with his parents and the scholars

“We are visiting an ally of ours, to discuss trade and military politics. People call it “The Frost.” 

“I'm guessing it's cold there?” Kirishima asked in a joking manner

“Horribly” Katsuki shivered just thinking about it, “They have recently become independent from a larger country, so we are going to show political support and meet the royal family and their parliament.” Kirishima nodded and responded,

“I remember them splitting, my division was on watch to go out and assist if anything bad happened.” he off handedly mentioned, “Is the royal family nice?” 

“Yeah, this will actually be my second time seeing them” Kirishima perked up at the comment, 

“Really? That had to’ve been a while ago” he commented,

“Yeah, it was when I was like, 6 or 7?” He said, “ the young prince is our age, but he's kinda weird”.

The journey was fairly boring, they filled their days with reading, writing reports, and for Katsuki, he liked to spend his time pretending he wasn't staring at his soldier while he was awake and very obviously admiring the boy while he was asleep. They arrived a week later to the northern country, Kirishima had thrown a thick fur cloak over him before exiting the carriage. Kirishima stepped out first, offering Katsuki his gloved hand as he stepped down. the thick snow crunching under their boots as they walked away and the carriage left to be stored away. The driver yelled something to Kirishima that he couldn't really hear and when the soldier turned to stand next to him he let out a soft “Wow..” and he crooned his neck to look up at the castle in front of them. 

While their palace back home was more wide and rectangular, consisting of only three floors with long halls and many internal courtyards, this one was incredibly tall, its highest points disappearing into the grey sky above them. The building was a stark white, almost blending into the snow flying around, but the intricate gothic designs gave it a harsh appearance compared to the soft snow surrounding them, like an ice palace in the middle of a snow field.

A strong gust of wind blew across the plain, blowing up their cloaks and freezing the tips of their noses. Katsuki reached over, grabbing onto Kirishima's arm

“How about we go inside, yeah?” he asked, Kirishima nodded quickly

“Yes. of course your highness” 

The two walked through the snow, up to the large front gates. The doors opened just wide enough for two people to walk through. They walked into the dark hall and continued straight ahead to a smaller door that was lit up by a few large candles. The prince led them through the door, which opened up to the castle's main hall. The entire hall was decorated in silvers and blues which were gently illuminated by thousands of little white candles that hung from chandeliers and wall sconces. They stood for a few moments, warming up in their thick cloaks, gloves and fur hats that they tucked all their hair in. A few moments later two maids came through a side door, followed by a group of beautifully dressed individuals. The maids rushed forward asking the two for their outerwear, as they removed their gloves and shoes the only woman in the group began to speak,

“Prince Katsuki, thank you so much for making the trip out here, it is truly lovely to see you again. Can I ask who you have brought with you?” the woman asked, her stark white hair was highlighted with a handful of red stripes and tied back into a bun on the back of her head, though it seemed to match somehow with the floor length deep blue dress she wore.

“This is my personal guard, Kirishima, he will be in my presence the whole trip, meetings included.” the prince said, with a strange underlying tone.

“Of course Katsuki,” she smiled, turning her attention to Eijirou, “ pleasure to meet you,” she curtsied a little, which Eijirou matched with a perfect 90 degree bow. The woman laughed a little at him before turning to the boys standing next to her, “bow.” she whispered-yelled, they complied, giving the soldier three identical bows, which he followed up by matching his earlier bow. “I apologize for my brothers,” she started “my name is Princess Fuyumi, first princess of the Todoroki family,” she started, pointing at each boy beside her “My older brother, Prince Touya, First Prince, Natsuo, Second Prince, and our youngest, Shotou, the Third Prince.” The three brothers appeared awkward at their sister’s introduction, fidgeting at the hem of their clothes and avoiding long eye contact. 

“Shoto is the one I told you about,” His prince said, breaking the silence. He nodded, remembering that the youngest was their age. He was silently hoping the boy would be somewhat friendly during their visit. His thoughts were broken by the maid stood next to him, 

“Could we please have your coats and hats sirs?” They removed their coats and hats, Eijirou had worn his cold winter uniform, the normal corset vest, with a long skin tight black undershirt, the sleeves came all the way down and a piece looped up to his middle fingers. The thick black pants were normal and the absence of shoes or socks made him feel a lot like his prince. The red omamori and lavender bangle stood out on the all black get up. His highness however was more colorful than him, he wore loose fitting deep violet pants with a matching deep red wrap top with wide bell sleeves, he wore a collection of lavender jewelry which matched beautifully with his jade bangle. The two had both left their hair undone so their hair both fell gently down their backs, Eijirou had seen the prince with his hair undone many times but this would be the first time he had seen Eijirou with his undone.

“I forget that men have long hair in your country, you dress so strangely.” the youngest of the three princes, Shotou, commented. Eijirou subconsciously began to brush through a piece of his hair, uncomfortable in their current situation. The middle prince, Natsuo, must've been more situationally aware then his brother because he laughed uncomfortably for a moment before speaking, 

“How about we show you to your rooms? You must want to get some proper rest before dinner and after such a long journey,” Natsuo led them to a stair case, which was connected to a stair case, and another stair case, and another stair case. They must’ve gone up ten flights of stairs before they reached the two rooms they would be staying in. Somehow their luggage had already made its way up here before them, Eijirou made a mental note to thank their driver for dragging them all the way up here. He laid down on the large bed they had provided for him, closing his eyes for a moment before sitting back up. He needed to go to the prince's room, not knowing what was happening in the other room caused a sense of dread to settle in his chest. But before he could even stand, the door to his room opened up, and his prince walked in and closed it behind him.

“I thought maybe you would feel better if we rested in the same room, so you knew where i was..” he said, quietly like he hoped he wasn't assuming too much, Eijirou smiled,

“You know me too well your highness,”

“it has been 3 years of having you by my side” he walked away from the door and sitting down next to him on the bed, “you learn a lot about a person when you spend every waking hour together” the feeling of dread vanished from his chest as they sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. His eyes began to feel heavy but he didn't try to stop it as he gently fell into sleep.

Katsuki wasn't sure how long Kirishima had been asleep, but he really couldn't force himself to care. He had untied the boy’s sword from his hip, laying it on the other side of him on the bed. Moments later the boy's body fell into a deeper sleep, he fell limp, his head falling into the prince's lap. Katsuki took advantage of these moments to look closer at the soldier’s face, the leftover tan from the summers he spent training in the sun, the small scar over his right eye that he had always seemed to have, and in his sleep the boy’s face lost his usual hardness. His dark brows softened, and his lashes fluttered gently as he slept. He took notice of the curve of his cheeks, the depth of his eyes, and even the shape and color of his lips. He knew there was a good chance he would never see the soldier this close again once he woke up so he was gonna take advantage of his good memory and burn the image of the boy into his mind forever. The soldier shifted in his sleep, turning to his side and putting his face into Katsuki’s belly. He set his hand on the boy’s head, running his fingers gently through the long black hair. He silently cursed that stupid, socially inept, half-n-half prince for his stupid comment about their country. What did he know about dress? Who was he to judge the men for their hair? He must just be jealous that everyone from their country is more beautiful than he could ever be, especially a soldier he had just met.

More time passed and Katsuki could feel his eyelids becoming heavy, he stopped stroking the boy’s hair and set his hand on his cheek, making one final note of how soft his skin was before he also fell asleep.

⋆˚꩜｡

When Eijirou woke up he was met with an overly familiar scent and an even more familiar touch resting gently on his face. As he pushed himself up he came face to face with his prince, the hand that previously rested on his face had fallen into the sleeping prince's lap. It took him a moment, trying to figure out what had happened and when he did his body jumped back swiftly. He ended up at the edge of the bed, the motion must’ve woken up the prince since he opened his eyes just in time to see Eijirou put his hand back behind him and fall backwards off the bed and onto the floor. He tried to get off the floor as fast as he could, hoping the prince hadn't seen him. However when he stood up he saw the prince hunched over, holding his stomach with his face pressed into the bed and his laughter muffled by the plush blanket. Eijirou could feel the heat rising through his whole body, turning his face an unnatural shade of red from embarrassment and a feeling he didn't dare name. The prince eventually composed himself, rubbing tears out of his eyes and gasping for breath every few seconds. He looked up at the soldier standing at the end of the bed and let out another short chuckle before crawling over and patting the edge of the bed, 

“Sit down Kiri,” he said, and Eijirou listened. He sat down quickly, turning his back to the prince for the first time in his life. Realising his mistake he twisted around to see the prince getting off the bed and looking into his luggage. 

“What are you looking for, your highness?” he asked, almost getting up to help him look. The prince however found what he was looking for and waved his hand for the boy to sit back down. He climbed back onto the bed behind Eijirou,

 “face forward.” he said, grabbing his head and pushing it forward. Only then did he realise what the prince was looking for, his hair brush. He began to brush his hair.

“Your highness, what are you doing? I can brush my own hair if you think I need to!” he tried to turn around again but was twisted back into place quickly.

“No need, I want to do this.” They sat in silence as his prince brushed through his hair with a methodical gentleness. After brushing all his hair he then parted off the upper half, leaving two pieces out in the front, and twisted it back into a bun and pinned it in place. 

“Ah.. thank you your highness” he mumbled, not sure how to respond to his actions

“No need to thank me, now,” he said, moving off the bed and standing in front of Eijirou, “could you do mine?” he asked, turning his back to him. Eijirou reached out slowly, taking the brush from his prince’s hand and hesitantly running it through his long blond hair. He spent more time brushing through his hair than he probably should’ve, after that realization he stood up and grabbed a small drawstring bag out of his luggage. 

“What is that?” his prince asked as he sat back down on the edge of the bed, 

“Theyre uh– ribbons. I don't really have much else for tying hair.. I could get something from your stuff if you don't wanna use mine,” Eijirou was rambling and he knew it too, but he was cut off,

“No no no, use yours, as long as you don't mind. I promise I'll return them. "His prince turned his head back and smiled, Eijirou, who was sitting and holding the bag of ribbons awkwardly, just quickly nodded and opened the bag. He pulled out several ribbons and tossed the rest in the bag and off to the side. He gently reached out and grabbed the blond’s hair, gathering it in multiple bubbles down the prince’s back and tying little bows between the groups. Once he was done the prince turned around and looked down at the sitting Eijirou. “Kirishima,” he looked up, making eye contact with the prince. “how do I look?” He smiled at him, leaning down slightly. Eijirou found himself unable to respond, his mouth was dry, the words stuck on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed and opened his mouth trying to respond,

BAM

BAM

BAM

They both stood up straight and turned to the door opening and Fuyumi standing in the entrance.

“Sorry if I am interrupting..” she cleared her throat, “dinner is ready..”

⋆˚꩜｡

Dinner with the Todoroki’s was long and quiet but not necessarily an uncomfortable situation to be stuck in. Eijirou stood against the wall for most of the meal, they didn't talk much, mostly ate in silence for an hour. The servers took the dishes away and suddenly the oldest prince spoke, 

“You can follow the servers for your dinner” Touya said, it took him a moment to realize that he was speaking to him, 

“What?” he mumbled, Fuyumi stood up from the table and looked at him apologetically

“We all need to speak in private, we do apologize but you are gonna need to leave. We have a meal for you as well, but you’ll need to leave for half an hour” 

Eijirou stood in his place defiantly until his prince turned around, giving him a nod and smile from behind the fan he held up to the group of Todoroki’s in front of him. Eijirou kept his gaze tight and gritted his teeth as he followed the server, 

“Ill be back in 30 minutes exactly.” 

The server led him out through the kitchen and down a flight of stairs and into a small room. The room had a round dinner table and a fireplace going in the corner. His meal was already set out at the table for him. The server left him alone but left the door to the room open to the hallway. He sat down and began to eat his meal. The cold noodles were good but he was gonna miss his normal meals if everything was gonna be this bland the whole trip. Just as he finished the bowl he heard multiple steps outside the room, as he looked up at the sound he saw two faces looking into the doorframe, they stared at each other for a second before Eijirou spoke up, 

“Um, hello?” the two sets of eyes didn't move until he heard a voice from out in the hallwayp,

“What are you two doing?” The two people jumped, revealing an older man, and a girl around his age in the doorway, another boy walked into the frame and began bickering with the two who had been staring at him. The older man pushed the younger boy and girl into the small room, putting his hands on each of their shoulders. 

“You’re Kirishima correct, Prince Bakugou's guard right?” the man smiled at him, he nodded, and the older man began patting the two on the shoulder fairly aggressively. “We are personal knights too! I’m Keigo Takami, and this is Ochaco Uraraka and Fumikage Tokoyami, they’re around your age too!” Takami introduced. He should've assumed they were knights purely from the uniform they were wearing. Their steel toed black boots, fitted black pants, the navy blue double breasted trench coat with its steel arm plates, and the pistol they all had on their hip were the daily uniform. They were the perfect vision of a Knight from their clothes, but their faces threw him off a bit. Takami had short wild blond hair that was slicked back aggressively, he seemed far too chipper to be a knight living in a tundra. Uraraka was similar, the girl had big eyes and a gentle demeanor that felt out of place for a knight. Only Tokoyami seemed to have any sense of seriousness. His hair was short and cropped, sticking up in sharp points. His face was pointed and serious, it reminded Eijirou of being stared at by ravens back home. The younger knights acknowledged their introductions before both pushing the hand of their shoulders and hitting Takami on his shoulders. They bickered back and forth for a few seconds before Eijirou bowed to the group, 

“It is wonderful to meet you three, but I must ask what it is you want from me?” he asked, Takami sighed, and Uraraka responded, 

“Well we came down to come eat with you but since you’re done, we can just chat!” she smiled at him, genuine in her response. Eijirou couldn't sense any malice from the group, but it wasn't like he could say no, he was staying in their house.

Chat was a bad example of what they did, it felt more like he was a book that could speak. The three asked endless questions about his homeland,

“Is it true that in The Eternal the sun shines for over twelve hours?”

“Yes.. in the summer”

“Does it ever get cold enough to snow?”

“In the north, for a few weeks in the winter, yes” 

“Is it true you’re so rich that no people ever go hungry?”

“Our national policies do focus on the overall welfare of people so we have a lot of shelters and food banks” 

“Is it true that every person wears fine silks and chiffons everyday?”

“That is the current style”

“Why does everyone keep their hair long?” 

“Only the men do, women keep short haircuts”

After what felt like hours of questions, his internal timer to get his prince had gone off, and he excused himself. When he thought he might've been freed from his questioning but the three stood and followed him back to the dining hall. He should have expected that when they introduced themselves as “personal guards” that they were the Princes’ and Princesses guards. He stopped himself from thinking that the two were too young to be guards, quickly reminding himself that he became a guard at fourteen. His time with the prince had gone by so quickly that he hadn't really felt like he was working this job for almost four years, there was nothing about the job that he dreaded or hated, so no reason to think about the time.

⋆˚꩜｡

Time passed quickly when he was with his prince, and being in a new place he had almost forgotten about his birthday. His prince had decided that the two of them would relax in Eijirou’s room for the day; he had even asked the maids to deliver their meals to the room. That way he could, as his prince put it,

“Finally relax for a little bit” he personally never felt too stressed, but he would never deny time alone with his prince, and even allowed his brain to blur the line between Soldier and Prince and something that was a little more. His prince played games with him, cards they brought from home. His prince had even brought a few records from home, claiming that there was no better music to listen to. The two danced to the music, holding a little closer than they needed to, foreheads bumping when there was no reason for their faces to be close. In their solitude Eijirou let his hands linger longer, his stares more open, and his love more obvious. It was something he had been aware of for some time now, knowing there was nothing he could ever do about it, he was content exactly where he was. He didn't care if his prince ever knew, because it wouldn't change the fact that it was the truth. His prince had once again prepared a birthday gift for him, earrings. They were ruby plugs in a crescent shape, in a size up from what he was currently wearing. He hadn't known when he was gonna stop stretching his ears, but these ones would probably be the last.

After his birthday, the days all seemed to morph into one, meetings and dinners, long treaty discussions, and falling asleep in the same bed as his prince. Then suddenly it was time to go home.

⋆˚꩜｡

The time after they returned was a whirlwind of meetings and planning for the prince’s birthday banquet. Eijirou knew that they always hosted a banquet for the prince but it seemed that everyone was significantly more stressed about this one. They had meetings about the menu, what music would be played, who would play the music, how many tables were needed, they had even had a whole thirty minute meeting about what color the table cloths would be. He personally thought the empress was being too paranoid about the whole situation but knew better than to say anything, The prince however did not keep his reservations about the situation quiet. Many of their meetings had come to an end not because they had come to a decision, but because the prince and empress had gotten into a screaming match. Evidently leaving most of the decision up to the advisee board, which meant that not only was the royal family stressed out but the Scholars and their Bosses’ were running around planning and contacting the necessary suppliers. His captain had even been struck with the stress of the situation, having to layout the guard assignments for the entire palace grounds had been more complex than Eijirou realised, needing to keep people inside very specific areas needed more people than the palace regularly employed on the grounds, so they had to pull from the capital and even a few outer cities. The stress didn't affect Eijirou until it affected his prince.

The day was the same as the weeks prior, they spent their days in meetings with the Empress, meetings with the Scholars, meetings with suppliers, with chefs, with jewelers, with designers, and the prince was stomping his entire way back to his room. They entered his room and before Eijirou could even close the door the prince sighed loudly as he fell face first onto his bed. He shut the door and walked towards the bed as he sat down and the prince sat up, grabbed a pillow and screamed loudly into the feathers. The muffled screams continued for a few seconds before the prince's body fell limp, just sitting there hunched over with his face in the pillow. His heart hurt seeing his prince like this, he was normally composed and confident and all of that seemed to have left his body after all these weeks. 

“You highness?” He choked out, trying to stay chipper, the prince's head lifted and his tired eyes met Eijirous. He hadn't thought of what he wanted to say but an idea flashed through his brain suddenly, and before he could really think about it, “do you wanna go somewhere?” The prince's eyes lit up at the offer and before he could accept it, Eijirou had already stood up and walked over to his closet. He grabbed his  simple black cloak and handed it to the prince. “You should put this on, we may pass a few guards, but I can talk us out of it.” He put the cloak on, pulling the hood over his head far enough that his face was heavily shadowed. They got out of the palace with no issue but when Eijioru led them out towards the north gate and towards where the barracks were built,  they posed a problem. Shoji and Sato. They were good guys truely, just sticklers for rules. And if they knew he was trying to sneak out the one person he was supposed to watch, they're both big enough to simply pick Eijirou and the prince up. But they were such nice guys so of course when they saw Eijirou, 

“Hey Kirishima! Haven't seen you in a while,” Sato said, walking up to him and the prince. Shoji followed shortly behind,

“Yeah it's been a minute since we’ve seen you,” 

Luckily it was dark out so the two soldiers couldn't see the prince too well, but Eijirou didn't wanna risk anything,

“Yeah, it's been awhile! We should do some training together soon,” he chuckled, hoping to get this small talk over with

“Yeah we should! heard you’re super busy though recently” Shoji commented,

“Yeah it can't be easy dealing with the prince recently, heard he's been throwing fits every single day” Sato said offhandedly, Eijioru laughed awkwardly at the comment before beginning to step away,

“Well, uh, it’s been nice. I gotta keep showing this guy around so, see you later!” He waved goodbye to the soldiers, grabbed the prince by the hand and began to walk closer to the gate.

“Bye Kirishima! Have fun showing the new guy around!” The soldiers continued on their way waving back as they walked away. They hurried out the gate and into Northern Forest. Eijirou slowed his pace once they were out of sight from the palace. They walked in silence, his grip on the prince's hand was light. The prince hadn't pulled away so neither would he. The trees were tall, providing a clear walkway to their destination, and as the trees shorted and the willows appeared Eijirou knew they were close. They ducked under a few willow branches when the area opened up.

On the other side of the branches was a large pond, the willows brushed the water's surface and the water flowed gently out of a small waterfall from the hill on the other side. It was quiet, it was serene, and Katsuki didn't know something like this existed so close to the palace. He took the cloak off and dropped it on the ground behind him. He walked closer to the edge, dipping just the tip of his foot into the clear water. It was cool, refreshing compared to the humid air that plagued them. He stepped back out of the water and turned around to Kirishima who just stood there looking at him, he let out a small cough before speaking,

“I thought you might like to cool off, somewhere private..” Kirishima stood there, like he was waiting for Katsuki to snap at him too, but he just smiled. 

Katsuki took off his chiffon wrap top, silk pants, and before he removed everything he glanced at Kirishima who had taken the hint and turned around as he normally did when Katsuki bathed. With his clothes set nicely on the discarded cloak he allowed himself to slip into the pond. It was only a few feet deep, hitting just above his chest. The water sent a calming chill down Katsuki’s spine, his shoulders relaxed and he let his mind calm for what felt like the first time in weeks. He glanced up at Kirishima who was standing awkwardly at the edge of the pond.

“You should join me,” Katsuki suggested,letting his gaze fall at his own blurry reflection. He expected to hear the soldier respond with something like ‘it wouldn't be responsible of me’ or 'we're not here for me but for you’. However all he heard was rustling of the uniform behind him. He was now deathly focused on his own reflection. He had taken his hair down, the long blond hair floated around him and he could vaguely make out the sharp edges of his face in the water. Off the side of his reflection was a blurry image of his soldier, his tan skin and long black hair were reflected back at him. Only once he heard the water settle after Kirishima got in did he look up from the water. 

As he looked back he saw the soldier dip his whole body into the water, he stood up, pushing his long black hair back. The water dripped down his chest and Katsuki found himself tracking its path, where it curved and where it pooled. There was a pull in his heart and twinge in his stomach that he chose to ignore, rather deciding to slap a large wave of water at the soldier. Kirishima looked at him, obviously baffled by Katsuki's actions. The look on his face was enough for him to forget all the stressors of the past few weeks. A small laugh escaped his lips but that small laugh grew and grew until Katsuki was holding onto the edge of the pond and his sides violently hurt. Kirishima stepped forward, grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him gently, jokingly pleading with the laughing prince,

“Your highness it is not nice to laugh!” 

“Does my face look that amusing to you?!”

“Who are you and what have you done with my stressed out prince?!”

Kirishima began to laugh along with him and after a minute they both calmed down to take in full breaths. Katsuki took a long deep breath before leaning back and letting his body sink under the water for a moment. When he resurfaced he let his whole body simply float away, and Kirishima followed slowly. They were silent for many minutes, the air was only filled with the sounds of the waterfall, the birds, and the twos’ breathing. After the long stretch of silence Katsuki broke it,

“I hope my 18th birthday never arrives.” he said, defeat was obvious on the statement but it was just him and Kirishima, so he couldn't care to hide it.

“Why is it that your dread this year is so much more than the other years, your highness?” Kirishima asked, he was worried and Katsuki could tell, there was no point in hiding it from the boy,

“It's the banquet mostly,” he responded, Kirishima cocked his next in question, "it's really the people at the banquet. Every unmarried man and woman throws themselves at me for hours and hours, and I'm expected to entertain every.. single.. one of them.” He trailed off at the end, going back to his silent floating. After a while he decided it was probably best to go back to the palace, while Katsuki felt more relaxed, he couldn't help but notice the pained expression that graced the beautiful soldier's face the whole way back.

⋆˚꩜｡

Eijirou’s brain knew that the prince was becoming of courting age but he had forgotten that that applied to everyone, not just him. Not that he had planned to do anything about it, but it was fun to imagine sometimes, late at night when he needed to fall asleep. In his dreams their lives weren't much different then they were now. Eijirou would still spend his days with his prince, they'd go to meetings, they’d read in the library, they'd eat their meals, and at the end of the day they would go back to the princes room except Eijirou wouldn't leave to go sleep alone in the barracks. But that was all it was, a dream. A silly little fantasy to help him go to bed. A fairytale that mothers tell their children. Never the realities of Eijirou’s life.

And so the day of the banquet arrived, the prince spent most of the day getting ready. He was taken to a grand breakfast with his parents, then a short tea with the Scholars, then he was taken back to his room where a group of maids cleaned him, did his hair, his make-up, dressed him in a beautiful orange wrap top with long belled sleeves, the pants were a match to the top, with a large translucent forest green shawl wrapped around his upper body. The maids had done long loose braids in the prince's hair, littering them with gold charms. Eijirou had never seen one person wear so much jewelry in his life. A thick gold necklace fell around his neck, more bangles in a mix of green and gold chimes against each other on his wrists and ankles, and even a thin gold threaded belt held his clothes together at the waist. Eijirou couldn't help but think that the Jade bangle he had clashed horribly with the entire garb, but the prince had kept it on regardless. They had even replaced the prince's diadem with a new shiny coronet, it was solid gold, studded with a mix of topaz and rubies around its pointed tips. After hours of watching the prince be waited on and dressed up like a doll, one of the maids approached him with a bundle in hand. She handed him the bundle with a simple, 

“For you soldier, from the empress.” and then she went back to the prince. Eijirou looked down at the bundle in his hand knowing that the words ‘from the empress’ meant this wasn't an ask, it was an order. So he excused himself into the prince's private bathroom and opened the bundle. It was clothing. The empress had provided him with an outfit for the banquet. He shouldn't have been surprised, she probably didn't want his uniform to scare the civilian guests they were having, she wanted him to blend in. She provided a very simple but formal outfit for him. Black belled pants that cinched at the ankle, the fabric was embossed with a soft floral pattern that gave him a less intimidating appearance. The top however was unexpected, the base matched the pants, a sleeveless high collared top whose bottom hem didn't quite reach the waist band of his pants. The outer layer was by far the fanciest thing he had ever worn, the red outer robe fastened at the waist, fell down to the ground, and off his shoulders as well where it bunched up around the elbow. He tied his sword under the outer robe, keeping it close to him but out of sight to the public. He folded his uniform, leaving it in the bathroom and once he exited it was time to go down to the ballroom.

The maids had excused themselves as the Prince got up to leave. He stood by the door and waited. The Soldier approached him, opened the door and led the Prince out of the room. As the door shut behind them you could catch a glance of the Soldier offering his arm to the Prince. You could only assume the two walked down, arm in arm, in that vacant hallway.

They hadn't planned a grand entrance for the prince but they might as well have. When the doors opened it felt like everyone had stopped to turn and look at the prince, wide eyes and slack jaws were the shared expression across the room. Eijirou felt it was the only appropriate reaction.

The night was long and fast-paced, Eijirou kept his distance but watched closely as the prince danced and chatted with men and women across the country. Everyday civilians, business owners, highly respected academics, generals, and athletes alike held his attention the whole night. Eijirou however had successfully avoided the crowd's attention, standing against a wall where he could see everything. That was until a girl around his age approached him. The girl was in an all black get up, the satin gave off a shiny almost leather like appearance. She had blonde, shoulder length hair and a simple black hat pinned atop her head. She looked up at him, smiled and offered her hand,

“Care to dance?”

Eijirou was a fine dancer, not the best, but he knew that there were people much worse off than him. Might've been the hours of watching his prince practice, and the hours he was used as practice person for him as well. He took her hand, hoping one dance may make him appear less soldier-like to the crowd. She quickly gripped his hand and pulled him onto the floor, the next song began and the two began to step in time. He could tell the girl was looking at his expression but he felt it hard to pull his own gaze away from the prince who was also dancing with a man several meters away. He didn't really hear the music, couldn't really focus on his dance, but his body moved without any thought.

“You're like his guard,aren't you?” 

Eijioru's focus was immediately brought to the woman he was dancing with, she smirked up at him and began laughing a few seconds after they made eye contact.

“Sorry sorry, I actually like already knew that when I asked you,” she assured him, however this was even more confusing,

“How? I am not necessarily a public figure ..” he said, wondering who this woman could be to know him

“Ah I guess we’ve technically never met but like I do know you, Like we’ll probs like def met sometime after this cause I mean duh, look, your like totes into him and like I can like lowk see it, like that wedding portrait would go hard asf” the girl spoke quickly, entirely not answering Eijirou’s question at all, he barely even followed half the words she was saying

“What..”

“Yo wait I forgot to tell you, whoops” she stuck out her tongue and hit her own head lightly with her fist, “You can call me Camie, I’m like one of the painters who like works in the palace, I am like finally getting promoted from murals to like Royal Portraits. OMG maybe I'll get to do yours someday, that would be like sooo cute!” she talked excitedly with a hint of a laugh behind every word. She never gave Eijirou a chance to interrupt and as the song came to a finish he finally got a chance to say,

“Why would you ever paint my portrait?” 

Her high-pitched laugh mixed with the chatter in the room, 

“They’ve already given me the assignment, y'know? The prince and his consort? Trust. I'll make sure to paint you beautifully” she smiled and walked away, not giving him a chance to respond before she walked away and approached another person to dance. 

Eijirou exited the dance floor before the next song started, back to where he had previously stood. He went back to watching the prince dance around but did his best to watch other people and even dance with others. And hopefully no one else would make romantic assumptions about him.

⋆˚꩜｡

As the night came to a close and the palace became silent, Eijirou found himself back where he was just hours ago. His prince was barely awake as they walked the halls back to his room. He was barely able to remove the glamour before quickly falling asleep, Eijirou quickly whispered his regular goodbyes and hoped that the walls wouldn't hear him say,

“Goodnight your highness, don't forget me when you are happy and wed”

⋆˚꩜｡

It was not often that the palace employed new scholars. It was quite rare actually for someone to be employed later in life. But shortly after Kirishima’s 18th birthday, Izuku sent him notice of the new scholar and her role. Something about cultural artistic preservation? All he knew was that she was employed alongside Kyoka in the Arts Archive. He had expected an archivist like Kyoka, not a girl like this.

Mina Ashido was her name. She was a former dancer turned scholar who focused on the cultural effects of dance. Not that he was paying attention in the meeting. He was more focused on the fact that she seemed to not be able to tear her eyes away from his Soldier. She even waved excitedly to the man behind him. The worst part is that he waved back.

Of course he was forced into another meeting with just the group of scholars, and of course, their new edition. 

“You know each other?!" Izuku asked,

“Yeah! We grew up in the same village up north. We would hang out before he up and left for soldier training. "She pushed Kirishima's shoulder playfully, and the two of them laughed. The scholars continued to inquire about their time together, but Katsuki didn't listen. His mind was too busy thinking about Kirishima not as a Soldier. He had always thought he was the person who knew the most about the Soldier,  but here sitting in front of him was a person who not only saw but knew a side of Kirishima he would never know. Katsuki couldn't even allow himself to imagine himself and Kirishima outside of their current roles together . He could however see Kirishima outside of his role. As a reserve soldier, living in his hometown. He would be free to go where he wanted, say whatever he wanted, and simply live his life freely. He could even be married, maybe he would've found someone by now. Maybe if he had never come to the palace he would be married to the dancer sitting next to him.

Suddenly he slammed his hands against the desk. He stood up from the desk, and walked away wordlessly. A strange sense of guilt and pleasure ran through his body knowing that she was watching him follow Katsuki out. 

⋆˚꩜｡

Walking slowly through the halls towards the prince's room, the princes’ hand wrapped around his arm. The walk was silent as they reached his door, he went to open it up but his prince suddenly asked,

“Do you ever dream of doing something else?” He was looking outside, looking out through the windows and the moon that softly illuminated the hall. He was avoiding Eijirous stare at his question,

“What?” he asked, taken aback by the sudden topic

“Do you ever wish you were doing something else?” he asked again, slightly irritated, “wish you were outside of this palace, had real free time, and actually meet people you aren't required to know? Don't you wish everything was different?!” he became increasingly more angry as he spoke. Eijirou was surprised at the prince's sudden anger and all he could say was,

“I do but-” before he could continue the prince quickly removed his hand from Eijirou's arm and pushed him away from the door. He was finally looking at him in the eyes, but the only thing Eijirou could see was the anger that seemed to be radiating off him. He had seen the prince like this before but never was it directed at him. Eijirou wanted to say something, he wanted to tell him how he dreamed of their days together, his dreams of laying close enough to hear his heartbeat. The words were on the tip of his tongue but before he could force them out, his prince spoke again

“Why don't you go live that life then?... you’re released from your assignment.”

His mind went blank at the statement,

“..what?”

“I said you’re released from your position!” the prince yelled, waving his hand off into the air, “Go marry that blonde girl! Or that scholar! Live your life for once!” He paused for a moment and Eijirou thought for a second that he could see tears in the prince's eyes, “SEE IF I CARE!” he screamed, suddenly opening the door behind him and slamming it in his face.

Eijirou gently tugged at the door, trying to open it, but he could feel the prince holding it closed. He hadn't even done this at the beginning of their time together, he had never restricted him from doing his assignment. Well technically it was not his assignment. He was no longer the prince's personal guard. He no longer had to be here, standing outside the prince's door. He was no longer required to care about the prince’s well-being, and he didn't. He didn't care about the prince anymore, but he would never stop caring about Katsuki.

⋆˚꩜｡

Katsuki had barricaded himself in his room the next day. He knew this was childish, and most definitely an overreaction. So on the second day after he dismissed Kirishima, he went to apologize. Unsure of what he wanted out of the conversion, simply just wanting to see the soldier again.

So in the morning he asked the first maid he saw, 

“Kirishima… the soldier? Did the Empress not tell you?” Katsuki's heart dropped, leaving the maid to stand silent. He practically ran down to his office, he threw open the door and saw the notice from his mother. It spoke the one thing he never wanted to hear,

Due to the recent development with The Frosts’ war seeking permanent independence, I have sent Palace Divisions 6 through Divisions 12. Six, Seven, and Eight will head to the North Eastern Border. Nine, Ten, and Eleven to the North Western Border. Twelve will be stationed in The Frost alongside allied Knights. Palace Divisions 1 though Divisions 5 will be repositioned as needed.

The notice was short. His hands shook as he held the paper, hoping that maybe it was all a bad dream. He set the notice to the side and under it was a smaller envelope with “Katsuki” written at the top. He undid the metal clasp and pulled out the letter inside.

My Katsuki,

You may never read this and I have come to terms with that, but maybe some day, someone will read this and know how I felt about you. 

You may hate me, you may not care about me but I will always care about you. I could never hate you. You can fire me, you can push me, you could stab me with my own sword and I would still love you with every breath.

I will replay our memories together through my rose-tinted glasses, choosing to ignore how you don't feel the same. Even though I will never see my dreams of us together lived out, I hold your memory deep in my heart.

There may be a life where you do read this letter, and I know you won't feel the same, but I hope my own feelings do not scorn your memories of our time together.

They are allowing me to write this as my final goodbye, People sent to the Frost rarely make it home and I know you know this. Do not worry though, I have also come to understand my timely death. It is what I am to do.

If I can not die for you, then I shall die for the country you love.

Goodbye, My Prince.

Your Most Devoted Soldier,

Eijirou Kirishima

His grasp on the letter and envelope was weak, they both fell to the desk. As they hit, a thread poked out of the envelope. Katsuki lifted it up, the envelope fell leaving a red Omamori pinched between his fingers.