Chapter Text
Katsuki walks through the castle with a letter in hand and a lump in his throat, and he doesn’t stop until he finds his parents in the solarium, the part of the castle where his family prefers to spend their few leisure hours.
Sometimes there are guests here or dignitaries from foreign lands, but today Masaru and Mitsuki sit alone at a stone table covered in small wooden pieces for a game played to keep the mind fresh, a game Katsuki has never lost to any other person—except for one.
He presses his finger against the edge of the paper, but it doesn’t cut him, like it was somehow enchanted not to do so from thousands of miles away.
“Mom,” he says, his throat unusually dry. “Dad.”
They look up at him, and Katsuki approaches, and from what he can see of the board, it seems his mother has gone for the assault while his father dutifully defends his queen behind a row of soldiers. Both methods have their merit, and today he wishes he was seated across from either of them instead of standing before them like this, like a child trembling in the dark as his heart pounds wildly in his chest.
He hands the letter to his mother, their nation’s sovereign, and she reads over it before she passes it to his father, her most valued advisor. Katsuki was born to them as rulers ascended shortly before, so he doesn’t know any other way of life, but he does know that what they expect from him is a mirror of themselves that he’s always thought—sometimes too proudly—he would never be.
But the gods will have their way with him if he is to be king, and he will be, there’s no doubt about it, and now his ascension is closer than he ever truly imagined before.
They both look at him, and Katsuki doesn’t see any pity at all but a wariness like they don’t quite know what to expect him to say or do about it, but then again, it wasn’t too long ago that Katsuki wouldn’t have reacted in a way suitable for a conversation indoors. Perhaps their hesitance was earned.
“Are you ready,” Masaru asks finally.
Katsuki nods silently.
He is.
He has been for a while now.
“Then does that mean you’ve finally accepted the gods will,” Mitsuki asks with a raised brow, and he’s only annoyed with her because she’s his mother, and it’s her job to make him prickle.
“Yes, mom,” he says. “I didn’t burn it, did I?”
Mitsuki smiles at him, all warmth and knowing, and Masaru jumps from his seat and flings his arms around Katsuki’s neck, blubbering just as expected. “Oh, I’m so happy!”
“Is this your king,” Katsuki strains as Masaru squeezes the air from his lungs.
“I’m your father,” he chides him.
“I imagine you’ll find yourself in a similar situation as I have soon,” Mitsuki says, amused. “Try to get used to it.”
“People change,” Katsuki says.
“I hope not always,” she says, and Katsuki lets out an anxious breath. He hopes not too.
Masaru releases him and takes a step back, and Katsuki gathers himself. There are few people in this world allowed to hug him, and even if it makes him roll his eyes, his father will always be one of them.
Mitsuki steps forward and takes his face in her hands.
“You will make a good king,” she says.
“You know this means that day is coming sooner than later,” he says, squirming to move away but with barely any real effort. “I’m taking your throne away from you.”
“I know that,” she says. “And I’m saying I think you’re ready.”
Katsuki takes another breath and nods, and she steps back to stand at Masaru’s side.
“We’ll send a ship as soon as possible,” she says. “I’ll let the steward know to pack enough supplies for an extended journey just in case. We’ll send our best warriors as an escort party so there won’t be any delays.”
Katsuki shakes his head at that. No one will argue that he’s the best warrior they have, so sending someone else is absolutely out of the question for more reasons than one.
“No,” Katsuki says. “I want to go myself.”
They both look at him like him saying this is something unbelievable.
“The gods may have willed this, but if I’m going to be a warrior king of a warrior people, then I can’t accept my fate passively,” he says. “I have to do this myself. I’ll go.”
Mitsuki looks over him before her eyes narrow. “You’re not going to scare him off, are you?”
“No?!”
“I’m not sure it would work even if he tried,” Masaru muses, and Mitsuki grins.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
Katsuki rolls his eyes. “I’m glad we all know what to expect then.”
Their steward makes all of the necessary arrangements for the journey, and Katsuki sends a letter ahead of himself, which means that there will be exactly one month before he sets sail.
One month to prepare what he’ll say.
One month before the atmosphere of this castle changes to something else, something he isn’t used to anymore, and one month before his life changes forever at the will of the gods and his own acceptance, even despite his past wishes.
But there are still things he has to take care of before any of this comes to pass, and there’s a person who has yet to hear about this journey, one who will be very upset if he isn’t given enough time to prepare.
He finds Eijirou at the stables, petting Katsuki’s favorite mare and spoiling her with carrots like he has ever since he first came here with him years ago, and she accepts her treats greedily from his ruby and onyx claws. Some of the guards have joked that she likes Eijirou better than him, but Katsuki won’t hear it.
Fury knocks her head from side to side at the sight of him, and Katsuki grins victoriously. See. She knows who her father is.
“Oh, Katsuki,” Eijirou says as Katsuki approaches them, his cadence softer now than it was when he first came here, and Katsuki rubs Fury’s cheek as she chews on her snack. “Are you going out for a ride?”
“No, I was looking for you,” he says, and he takes one of the carrots and breaks it in his fingers, preferring to feed her in small bites than let her have the whole thing at once. “I wanted to tell you that I need to go to elf lands in a few weeks.”
“Oh?” Eijirou’s eyes widen curiously. “What for?”
Katsuki knows he should tell him. They’re best friends, closer than blood, and no one is more loyal and understanding than Eijirou, but one of the benefits to Eijirou being an outsider is that he doesn’t have to hear about prophecies and the will of their gods, and so for the duration of their friendship, not a soul has spoken of Katsuki’s birthright to him, which has given him plenty of time to make peace with it on his own.
And saying it out loud would make it real in a way he isn’t quite ready for yet.
“Is it a secret?” Eijirou asks when he doesn’t answer.
“For now,” Katsuki says. “I’ll need you to trust me and not ask too many questions until it’s time for me to tell you.”
“Of course. Whatever you say,” he says before the corners of his mouth tug down a little.
“Oh, don’t pout.”
“I’m not,” he says. “I get it. You’re the prince here, and you have secrets. I’m just really nosy, is all, and we always share everything, and now you’re going somewhere amazing, and I don’t get to know why.”
Katsuki exhales, and Fury takes another piece from his fingers.
“I promise I’ll tell you soon,” he says. “Maybe after we get there, I’ll get us some of that shitty sweet wine they love so much, but I just need some time first.”
Eijirou nods in understanding before his head jerks towards him in surprise. “We?”
“Yeah, idiot, did you think I was leaving you behind?”
Eijirou flushes and looks away. “Well, it seemed like an important trip for princes and not for dragons.”
“The dragon goes where the prince goes,” he repeats, an old message his parents had spread through the castle after Eijirou first came here, and Eijirou grins at him until one of his fangs clips over his lip.
“Oh, we’re going on an adventure!” Eijirou cheers before planting a quick kiss on his mouth, one Katsuki should have seen coming to defend himself from, but he never quite moves away from it in time to stop it. “I’ve always wanted to see elf lands! This is so exciting, I hope we make friends.”
Katsuki huffs a laugh and wipes his mouth, a sound mirrored by the snort of his horse who has her eyes set on the carrot in Eijirou’s hand.
Friends.
He thinks about Eijirou meeting him—meeting them— and his chest tightens a little. They’ll love each other, there’s no doubt about it, and with a pang of guilt he wonders why he ever kept them separated at all.
“You’ll need to be fitted for a few shirts and longer trousers,” he says, and Eijirou doesn’t just frown at that, he scowls, and Katsuki barks a laugh. “Elves have a dress code.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me here to look after Fury?”
“Tch,” Katsuki says and side eyes him, and Eijirou beams back at him with all of his fangs on display. Yes, he has to take him with him, there’s no doubt about it, and besides, what would a dragon do all by himself with no one but a horse to play with?
Eijirou follows Katsuki across the sea to the elf lands, a place he’s never been before and never imagined he would see.
His people come from the mountains in the north, and the warrior kingdom Katsuki belongs to covers all of the land below, all the way to the waters they set sail on a week ago.
Katsuki won’t tell Eijirou why they’ve come here, but lately he’s been taking his responsibilities as the future king seriously, so Eijirou assumes it involves some kind of diplomacy with the elves. He hopes this means there will be a celebration. Eijirou loves parties.
They arrive in the middle of the night, and he and Katsuki rest with the crew on the ship at port until dawn with Eijirou taking no indulgent trips into the sky to get a peek, unsure of how the elves will feel about dragons, if they even know they exist.
Eijirou is so excited that he can only manage one breakfast, and soon he and Katsuki are walking through the city together with Eijirou as Katsuki’s only official guard. Although, all he’s ever really needed to protect himself is the sword that is notably missing from his hip, a sight Eijirou has never seen before.
They are far from home, though, aren’t they?
And the elven city is beautiful.
Vines stretch over marble walls spotted with soft purple and pink flowers, and beyond them Eijirou can see the crystalline structures towering over the city like gemstones cut to absorb the sun’s light.
They’re just regular buildings Katsuki says and points off to the side towards a small glassy box with ribbons hanging in the windows, and Eijirou can smell the warmth of fresh bread coming from within. It’s just a bakery, and yet it looks like the sun reflecting off the lake.
“Everything is so pretty and shiny here,” he says. “I wish your castle sparkled.”
“I thought you said my castle was manly.”
“It is! But I think I like this place better.”
Katsuki sucks his teeth. “Then I’ll leave you here when we go back home.”
“You would not!” Ejiirou frowns, betrayed.
“I would! Let the elves have you since you prefer pretty things!”
“Maybe when you finish your business, we can come back.”
“No.”
“You’re being unfair.”
“Don’t argue with me,” Katsuki says, and Eijirou ignores him in favor of the massive statue he sees approaching in the distance.
A woman stands above the city like she was carved from glass, and her hair looks like it’s made of water that wraps down her arms, pouring down from her palms to a large pool below. It’s a fountain, he realizes with a gasp, like the castle has for birds, but it’s more.
“It’s–.”
“Elves fight with magic,” Katsuki explains easily. “Not swords.”
“Magic,” he says in a breath. “Wow. Where is the water coming from?”
“I don’t know, I said they use magic, didn’t I?”
“No, you said they fight with magic,” Eijirou says.
“Well they use it for other shit too,” he says and grabs his arm. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”
“Late for what,” Eijirou says, trotting after him. “Are we meeting someone?”
“Yeah,” he says, gruff.
“Oh good! Who are we meeting?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Eijirou follows Katsuki up the hill towards a cluster of crystal towers that all seem to belong to one place. The gates open for them with no guards in sight, and Eijirou looks around in wonder at the massive gardens and marble paths that context each point to the other.
A gathering place, he imagines, with soft grasses and plenty of shade from all the different trees. He hears birds, and not much else, even though the city around them is quite lively and vibrant.
Katsuki tenses next to him, his shoulders stiff and hunched, and Eijirou’s eyebrows raise.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he says, stiff. “Don’t worry about it.”
Eijirou frowns. “Are we expecting danger?”
Katsuki shakes his head. “Nope, this is the safest place in the world.”
“What is it?”
“The Academy. It’s like a place for studying magic, but they do other stuff here, so it’s not a school,” he says and nods towards an orb at the center of the garden. “Anyone who tries to fuck with anyone else gets zapped.”
“Oh my,” Eijirou says, making sure to look as non-threatening as possible. “And we’re welcome here?”
“Yep,” he says like he almost doesn’t want the word to come out. “They know we’re coming, so don’t worry about it.”
“Oh? So your secret business is at the magic school?”
“Katsuki!”
They both turn in time to see someone too short to be an elf running towards them with green hair, large eyes, and a dozen freckles over his cheeks, waving his hand high above his head like an old friend, and the aura next to him immediately shifts from on edge to relieved.
But when Eijirou looks at Katsuki, expecting a brotherly smile like he gives him after a hunt, he instead finds a sturn, annoyed scowl.
Why is he lying?
The little green one comes to them and throws his arms around Katsuki’s neck, seemingly unaffected by the expression. Maybe he knows he’s lying too.
“Get off of me,” he grumbles, wiggling away from the embrace, and Eijirou frowns. This new person was so happy to see him, and Katsuki was happy to see him too. Shouldn’t they hug? Dragons would certainly kiss.
The new person steps away with a bright smile aimed towards Eijirou, and Eijirou returns it easily, already fond of this person just from how good he makes his friend feel on the inside, even if begrudgingly.
“Hello! I’m Izuku from clan Midoriya,” he says warmly, the introduction familiar to Eijirou from spending time in Katsuki’s kingdom.
“You’re human,” Eijirou says, surprised.
“Yes,” he says. “The only one here, I think. Or, I was until Katsuki came, but I’m the only human who lives here. I’m a mage, just not an elf.”
Eijirou looks at Katsuki for an explanation, having never met a mage because humans back home don’t use magic at all, even in their fairy tales.
“He’s good with books, but not so much a sword,” he says, not explaining any further.
“You’re a dragon, aren’t you?” Izuku asks, and his excitement bubbles out so easily that Eijirou finds himself immediately wishing to return it. “Oh, I’m sorry if it’s rude to point that out, but you only ever see elves around here, so this is kind of amazing.”
Eijirou nods enthusiastically. “It’s not rude. I am a dragon.”
“Wow,” he smiles brightly. “Can you fly?”
“Of course,” he says. “Would you like to go to the sky with me?”
Izuku’s eyes widen in amazement. “Really?”
“Later,” Katsuki bristles. “Don’t want the elves trying to shoot you down by accident.”
“Oh yes, that’s true,” Izuku says thoughtfully. “I think the people in the city might panic if they suddenly saw a dragon flying around.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want them to be scared of me,” Eijirou says, distressed. “Oh no.”
“Maybe after a few people see you first, they’ll know what to expect,” Izuku says. “But that’s so nice of you to offer. I’ve never had anyone ask to take me to the sky before.”
“A friend of Katsuki’s is a friend of mine,” he says, and he catches Izuku and Katsuki glancing at each other wordlessly.
“Speaking of your friends,” Katsuki says to Izuku. “Where is that half and half bastard you’re so fond of?”
“Oh you know,” he says, waving towards one of the towers. “He’s busy, but he’s around here somewhere.”
“Half and half?” Eijirou asks.
“Yeah, he’s–,” Katsuki says. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Oh wait, I think he might have gone to the arboretum actually,” Izuku remembers, and Eijirou looks at Katsuki for an explanation.
“It’s like a place with a bunch of plants,” he says, holding his hands apart to emphasize the size. “They study them too, I guess.”
“Is it bigger than this,” Eijirou says, looking around at what he already thought was a large garden.
Izuku laughs, not unkindly. “Would you like to see it yourself? I can take you.”
Eijirou looks at Katsuki with hopeful eyes.
“Well don’t look at me,” he says. “If he says it’s okay, do what you want. The dragon goes where Izuku goes.”
Eijirou looks back at Izuku, his hands clasped together with a wish that he doesn’t change his mind, and Izuku smiles at him like he’s the sun itself, and Eijirou knows for sure in that moment that Katsuki’s little green friend is a good person.
“Here, follow me,” he says, taking him by the elbow. “I’ll give you a tour.”
Katsuki raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t mention their important meeting they were going to be late for, and so soon Eijirou is being led towards the most magnificent garden he’s ever seen.
It seems to stretch on for miles, and everywhere he looks, he sees a different flower, tree, or vine, all unique and wonderful. Golden butterflies and plump little bees fly from bloom to bloom, and it takes everything Eijirou has to not give into his instincts and swat at them.
He thinks of the smoking mountains of his homeland and the jagged rocks spread across the landscape that used to nick the pads of his feet, and he thinks that this place must be paradise.
Gods must live here.
And one approaches.
Eijirou watches in awe as he steps towards them, sharp like glass and as graceful as running water. Long pointed ears appear from beneath silken, wind-tousled hair that on one side looks like unmelted mountain frost and the other is Eijirou’s favorite color.
He hasn’t seen every flower here yet, but he already knows that none of them could compare to him.
“Close your mouth,” Katsuki says under his breath before addressing the elf. “Finally ready to make your grand entrance?”
“I would have waited near the gates with Izuku, but there was too much work to do,” he says, and Eijirou catches a quick flush to Izuku’s cheeks. “I’m finished now though.”
“So where’s your parents,” he says. “I want to get the greetings out of the way.”
“They have trusted me with this for now,” he says.
“Really,” Katsuki says, suspicious.
“Yes,” he says calmly, like it would be impossible to insult or startle him. “They said because we’re such good friends.”
Eijirou glances at Katsuki, who looks like he might be trying very hard to hold in a laugh, and Eijirou smiles, relieved. Oh, they are friends.
Since when does Katsuki have so many friends? Why hasn’t he told him about them?”
The elf looks directly at Eijirou, his head tilting slightly as his eyes rake over him like he’s taking him in, and suddenly Eijirou is very conscious of the scales over his arms and the claws on his fingers. Do elves like dragons? He’s never met an elf before, so maybe this elf has never met someone like him either.
“Hello,” he says.
“H-hi,” Eijirou says with a smile, one that is not mirrored directly, but he can feel it the way he can feel Katsuki’s inner thoughts.
“Oh!” Izuku says. “Shouto, this is Katsuki’s dragon friend, Eijirou. He’s been staying with him at the palace for the last few years. Eijirou, this is my best friend and favorite teacher, Shouto.”
“You’re a teacher here?” Eijirou asks, amazed.
“Izuku is exaggerating my role a bit,” Shouto says. “My parents are the academy’s lord and lady, and I have tutored Izuku outside of his regular lessons because I am more familiar with the advanced material than most of the others. Izuku and I studied together when we were young though.”
“This is just a research center,” Izuku says. “But I am allowed to study here, and I help Shouto’s siblings and some of the other elves with their research in exchange for more training.”
Katsuki eyes him. “I thought it was supposed to be just Shouto, Lord Enji, and Lady Rei.”
Izuku flushes and looks away. “I was curious about the other specialities.”
“Izuku.”
“I know what you’re going to say, but I promise I’ll never use that on a human being without their consent,” Izuku says earnestly. “Unless it’s an emergency.”
Eijirou looks at them all anxiously, unaware of what these strange magics could be or what that is. “What’s he talking about?”
“Well, one of Shouto’s brothers is a healer,” Izuku says.
“Oh that sounds like great magic to have,” Eijirou says, excited. “Isn’t it?”
“Izuku,” Katsuki warns.
“And his sister is a very talented alchemist,” he says. “She’s taught me how to make so many useful potions like for healing and for sleep.”
Eijirou’s eyebrows raise.
“Izuku…”
Izuku frowns and looks away like he’s been scolded, and the corner of Shouto’s mouth twitches.
“And you let him study with him?”
“I do not let Izuku do anything,” Shouto says. “And neither do you or anyone else.”
Katsuki’s mouth thins. “I know that.”
“Do you?”
Eijirou clears his throat, aware of the sudden shift between them on top of Izuku’s anxiety, and he thinks it would be a real shame if one of those magical elf balls zapped someone right now.
Katsuki takes a breath, calming himself. “Shouto’s eldest brother is a necromancer.”
Eijirou gasps in shock, and Izuku physically winces.
“Oh no!” Eijirou says, horrified. “What’s a necrodancer?”
Izuku erupts into a fit of giggles, Shouto covers his mouth with one hand, and Katsuki looks at Eijirou like his eyes might explode.
“Necro mancer, you idiot,” he says. “Not necro dancer.”
“No, I think what he said may be closer to what it looks like,” Shouto says, amused, and Eijirou preens that he was correct, earning an elbow to the side.
“No,” Katsuki says.
“But what is it then?”
“He raises the dead,” Katsuki says. “Isn’t that right, Izuku?”
“Well.”
“You can do that?” Eijirou asks. “Oh, no, I don’t think I like that kind of magic. No, no.”
“It’s– forbidden in most places,” Izuku admits. “I wanted to learn because I was curious, but I’ve only ever practiced on plants. No living creatures, I couldn’t live with myself if something went wrong.”
Katsuki relaxes next to him. “Oh.”
“Izuku’s practice with resurrection under Touya’s supervision has done wonders for the arboretum,” Shouto says. “But his true talents you’ll have to see for yourself when he decides to show you. He is an incredible mage.”
Izuku looks at Shouto with a shy smile, his admiration for this elf reminiscent of the way Eijirou so often feels when Katsuki praises his sword fighting. “You don’t have to say that.”
“I do have to,” Shouto says. “He should know it.”
“I guess I’ll have to see it for myself then,” Katsuki says.
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities.”
“We should walk around some more,” Izuku says suddenly. “There’s still so much left to see, and Eijirou’s never been here before.”
“Have you taken them to the Pavilion of Resonance yet,” Shouto says, and Eijirou perks up with interest.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, you’re gonna love this,” Katsuki says.
Izuku and Shouto lead them away from the garden towards a raised terrace, and the four of them climb the steps up to a large, flat plateau covered in square stone tiles, and when Eijirou steps onto it, he hears a deep rumble that seems to come from everywhere.
He covers his ears with a frown, but it doesn’t seem to bother the others.
“What is this?” Eijirou shouts over the noise.
“Magic,” Izuku shouts back with a smile. “All the ley lines converge here at the center, and it gets sent out to the rest of the city. Everything here is created with magic.”
Eijirou turns to Katsuki.
“It’s like underground rivers, and this is the well.”
“Oh!” Eijirou shouts, finally understanding. “Why is it so loud?”
“It’s a lot of water,” Izuku laughs.
Shouto raises his hand and snaps his fingers, and the painful roar dulls to a soft, tolerable murmur. Eijirou lowers his hands, relieved. “You may stand at the center if you wish. It is an interesting sensation to experience.”
Eijirou looks at Katsuki, unsure, and Katsuki gestures towards it. “Go for it.”
Eijirou walks towards the center, checking over his shoulder to see if the other three are watching, and once he approaches what seems to be a stone star, he feels those earlier vibrations tickle the ends of his claws.
When he taps his fingers together, there are sparks.
Shouto approaches him, leaving the other two at the edge. “It’s safe. It’s like static in wool.”
“Ah, okay,” he says, suddenly very anxious, and not from the sparks.
Shouto extends his hand, his fingers graceful and brilliant as they pluck threads of magic out of the air and weave them into a ball. He cups it in his palms, and Eijirou watches in amazement as a tiny blue sphere floats there attached to nothing. “Hold out your hands.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No, it will not.”
Eijirou cups his hands carefully like he’s accepting a baby bird, and he watches the orb float towards him and hover just above his skin.
It feels cool like flying over snow, and Eijirou’s smile widens.
“Can you eat it?”
“I have never tried before, but I suppose you could.”
Eijirou frowns at himself. “That was strange to ask, wasn’t it.”
“I don’t think any question is strange,” he says.
“Is this the water they were talking about?”
“Yes, but it can be other things too,” he says. “Above the pavilion it is air, and below it is like water, and in the arboretum it is earth.”
“Oh wow,” he breathes just before Shouto waves a hand over his palms, igniting the ball into a scorching, flaming red.
“And when it is used like a sword, it is fire.”
Eijirou stares at the small ball of fire in awe until Shouto plucks it out of his hand, making it vanish into a puff of smoke inside his fist.
“This is our magic.”
“Will you quit showing off,” Katsuki says as he and Izuku approach.
“You were just as excited when we showed you the pavilion,” Izuku says.
“We,” Katsuki says. “I remember Fuyumi showing me. Not you two.”
Izuku frowns, his ears darkening as he looks away.
“You can do that too,” Eijirou asks. “You can pull the magic out?”
“Not as easily as Shouto can, but yes, everyone who studies here can in some way.”
“That’s amazing,” Eijirou says. “I love magic.”
Katsuki snorts. “Of course you do.”
Shouto turns and looks off, and Eijirou sees an elf standing on the opposite side in robes with wild white hair, and Shouto nods at him. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Where are you going,” Izuku asks before he sees him too. “Oh okay. I’m going to take them to the Residency, if that’s alright?”
“Yes, of course,” he says. “I’ll be there soon.”
Shouto leaves, and once he’s gone, the loud roar of magic returns, and Eijirou covers his ears again with a pout. He doesn’t like this part at all.
“Come on, before it gives him a headache,” Katsuki says.
“What?!” Eijirou shouts.
“I said we’re leaving!” Katsuki shouts back.
“Oh yes, sorry, Eijirou,” Izuku says. “Follow me.”
There are more marble buildings where Izuku takes them, and Eijirou can see small pink and yellow crystals in the windows glowing with light where torches and candles might be.
Living quarters, he guesses. The other mages must stay here, especially if they’ve traveled as far as they have to come to this place, and with a bubble of excitement he wonders if they’ll get to stay here too or if they’ll spend the night on the ship again. Either would be fine with him though.
“Over there is where our rooms are,” Izuku says, pointing towards the left. “Someone should be bringing your things to where you’ll be staying soon, if you’re tired from your journey.”
“We’re not tired,” Katsuki says, declining the dismissal, and Eijirou agrees.
“Good,” Izuku says, pleased. “I mean, I’m glad the trip didn’t wear you out.”
“The seas were calm this time,” he says, and Eijirou nods.
“Good,” he says again and turns around. “This way, if you don’t mind.”
Eijirou follows them around a corner, and Katsuki seems to know where he’s going, but he also seems content to let Izuku lead them around.
There are statues of elves everywhere here. Some look like they were frozen in the middle of a dance, some stand elegantly with birds on their fingertips, and some pour pitchers of running water into ponds filled with large spotted fish. Eijirou wonders how much trouble he would be in if he ate one of them.
“And over here is the library,” he says. “I spend most of my time there, but I don’t suppose you would be interested in seeing a bunch of books.”
“I can only read runes,” Eijirou admits shyly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no! Dragon scrawl is amazing! We have several tomes written in it, but I’ve never believed in their translations enough to study them myself, but they are incredible to look at! Actually everything about dragons is so interesting to me. I especially think it’s fascinating the way your hatchings work. Is it true that you remember coming from your shell?”
“Of course,” Eijirou says, surprised. “Don’t you humans remember your births?”
Katsuki grimaces. “Do you think I could look my mother in the eye if I could remember that?”
“If you don’t remember being born, then why do you celebrate your birthday?”
“Because I was still born, I just don’t remember it,” Katsuki says, and Izuku giggles at them both.
“I’m so happy to see that Katsuki has made such a nice friend,” Izuku says. “You two make a good pair.”
Katsuki prickles at that, which Eijirou decides was the intended result, and he imagines that Izuku must really have known him a long time.
“Tch, don’t say weird things,” he says before turning back to Eijirou, his face shifting to something serious. “Look, I need to talk to him for a moment.”
“Now?” Izuku asks.
“Yeah, now,” he says to him before raising his eyebrows to Eijirou.
“Oh, okay, sure,” he says with a nod. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Thank you, Eijirou,” Izuku says, so kind and polite.
“Don’t wander off too far,” Katsuki says.
“I’ll stay close,” he promises, and that’s exactly what he does.
Katsuki and Izuku disappear into one of the buildings, and Eijirou walks around a bit, staying in shouting range but just far enough that he can see what kind of place the elves live in and maybe get a peek into some of their rooms.
There are plenty of benches and fountains with raised sides, but Eijirou decides that since he is not an elf, he should not use them. Instead he finds a nice spot on the ground next to one of the walls and has himself a little sit.
There are no people walking around at this hour, all probably working or studying, but he does enjoy the sounds of all the birds in the trees, and there are so many trees here with bark like winding rope and bunches of leaves like water bubbles. He is quite happy to spend an afternoon here.
After a while he’s joined by a cat with soft silver and black stripes who has absolutely no qualms at all about climbing into his lap. Eijirou’s smile stretches happily across his face, his eyes watering as he’s blessed by this little visitor, who turns over onto its back to present its delectable tummy.
Oh this is the most wonderful day of his life.
He carefully scratches its chest with his claws, and it purrs loudly, angling its little head to direct him towards its soft, pointed ears. The castle at home should have cats, he thinks. It would make the place more wonderful than it already is.
“I see you’ve made a friend.”
Eijirou looks up to see Shouto standing a few feet away. “Oh, hi!”
“Please don’t get up, you’ll disturb her,” he says.
“Ahhh,” Eijirou says, scratching beneath her chin. “So you’re a little lady.”
Shouto hums, seemingly pleased. “So have they left you to fend for yourself?”
“Just for a little bit,” he says. “Katsuki has private business with Izuku, I think. That’s why we came here. I don’t actually know why we came here, but I think that’s why.”
“I see,” Shouto says.
“Your kingdom is beautiful,” Eijirou says. “Everything is so beautiful here.”
“Thank you,” he says. “So this is your first time here?”
“Yeah,” he says with a shy smile. “I’m surprised Katsuki brought me with him.”
“I’m glad he did,” Shouto says. “We’ll have to treat you to a special meal. You have to sample all of our local delicacies since you can’t get them anywhere else.”
Eijirou thinks about what he said carefully, unsure of some of the words but not interested in making a fool of himself by misspeaking, and then Shouto repeats what he said in a clumsier iteration of a familiar language, and Eijirou smiles brightly.
“You speak Dragon Tongue,” he says, excited.
“Just a little,” Shouto says. “Not enough to hold a conversation though.”
“That’s amazing!”
“You speak human and dragon,” Shouto reminds him.
“Only one well,” he says. “I should probably warn you in advance that I may say something offensive, but it’ll be an accident, I swear.”
“Did Katsuki teach you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I will know what to expect,” he says fondly enough for Eijirou to believe him. “I would like to learn more dragon words from someone who speaks them. Would you teach me some while they talk in private?”
“Oh sure, of course,” Eijirou says. “Anything you wanna know.”
Shouto sits on the ground next to him, folding himself together all elegant and beautiful, and he reminds Eijirou of a crane or a–.
Cat.
Shouto reaches over and scratches the cat’s head, who paws lazily at his hands.
“How would you address her,” he asks, and Eijirou says what might be closer to kitty than cat, but it probably doesn’t matter.
Shouto smiles and repeats it, sounding out the word like it’s something wonderful. “Kitty.”
Oh he’s never been so happy to hear a person speak in his life.. “Yeah, that’s it. Perfect.”
Shouto says it again more confidently as he gives the cat another head scratch, and Eijirou has never loved hearing a single word more.
“They call you Eijirou,” he says.
“Mhm.”
“How do you say your name in the dragon language,” Shouto asks, and Eijirou takes a deep breath, not sure how he would react to hearing his name coming out of Shouto’s pretty mouth if he decides to repeat it.
But he says it anyway as requested, the feeling of the breath on his tongue almost unfamiliar because of how long he’s spoken like a human.
“Kirishima Eijirou,” he sounds out carefully once, and he says it against like fire crackling in a hearth, and it takes Eijirou’s breath away. These are words a mortal mouth should never know how to make, and yet... “Like that?”
Eijirou swallows, his heart pounding painfully. “Perfect.”
Shouto smiles at him like he’s pleased to know he did a good job, and for that, Eijirou almost tells him again.
“How do you say your name,” he asks instead.
“Shouto,” he says simply, and Eijirou laughs, delighted. “I mean the way the elves do.”
Shouto grins slightly at his own joke. “I’m sure it must sound similar.”
“Let me hear it,” Eijirou says, so eager that he startles the cat. “Please.”
Katsuki and Izuku are nowhere on his mind.
Katsuki follows Izuku into one of the academy’s libraries, packed floor to ceiling with tomes and ancient scrolls, and finds to some surprise that it’s completely empty.
“Is it okay for me to be here,” he asks anyway.
“You’re the future king of a friendly nation,” Izuku says. “I can’t imagine anyone chasing you out of a library.”
“This is a quiet place, and I’m not known for being that,” Katsuki reminds him.
“It should be just the two of us for now,” Izuku says, a flicker in his eye that has Katsuki pacing away towards someone else’s workspace, their ink and parchment remaining exactly where it was from when they left it. Or maybe it just belongs to Izuku. Katsuki doesn’t ask. “I’m sorry Shouto was kind of intense today. He was looking forward to seeing you, though. I just don’t think he can help himself sometimes.”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he says. “He likes pushing my buttons, but he’s always looked out for you more than anyone else did, so I can see why me being here would’ve put him on edge.”
“Yeah,” Izuku says, the word catching in his throat, and Katsuki turns back to see him leaning back against one of the tables, much farther away than when they first came in, and although he did the same, he doesn’t like it.
It’s not… like Izuku, especially when it comes to him. For their whole lives, he was always a little too close, the only person who dared to touch the prince, and Katsuki cursed him for it every single time, even when it stopped being something he didn’t like.
But he supposes there wouldn’t be a way for Izuku to know the difference, especially since he never told him.
What was he supposed to do? Fall on his knees and tell him he’s changed? That’s why he’s here isn’t he? This is the proof.
“Why are you standing over there?”
“I guess because I missed you,” Izuku says, and Katsuki’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “We’re adults now, and I told myself that when you came I wouldn’t run to you, but then I did that, and then you–. But you’re here, and you came for me, and I’m afraid that if I come too close again, I’ll do something even more embarrassing than hug you, and I don’t want to make things hard for us.”
Katsuki pauses, unable to speak for a moment. Izuku has always been so damn honest with him, more than with anyone else, and so of course he can just say that with a straight face like it’s conversational, but it twists Katsuki’s stomach in a knot, both because even after all this time, Izuku still wants to and because he believes he still can’t.
What does he think he could do that would be something to be ashamed of?
Anything, he reminds himself, and then he mentally wraps his fingers around his younger self’s throat, and he calls him the wretched, undeserving little bastard that he is. The gods were too merciful for not striking him down, or maybe they weren’t merciful enough.
“Do you think I’m still like that?”
Izuku shakes his head.
“Then come here.”
Izuku shakes his head, and Katsuki frowns. “Then you think I’m the same.”
“You came all this way, and you brought Eijirou with you,” he says.
“I did,” Katsuki agrees.
“I don’t think you would have let us meet if you planned on leaving me here forever,” Izuku says, shaking his head.
“Because leaving you here isn’t an option.”
“It is, actually,” he says. “I gave you that option. I made it to where no one would know about it but us. Did you not read my letter?”
“Of course I did,” he says. “Both of them, thank you very much. The one my parents saw, and your sneaky little mage paper hidden beneath it.”
He read that one more times than he could count.
“Then you know you could have left me,” he says. “You didn’t have to come here. You could have–.”
“No,” Katsuki says, cutting him off, and Izuku frowns. “No, I couldn’t have. I can’t. Our parents may have–. I know why I had to come here, but that’s not why I did. You said you wanted me to come, didn’t you?”
Izuku swallows. “Yes.”
“Did you lie,” he asks. “Did you tell me you wanted to come home so I would be the only half of us who disobeyed our gods by accepting your offer?”
“No!”
“Then there was no other option,” he says. “And now I’m here, and I brought Eijirou with me so he could meet you because you’re right, if I didn’t plan on bringing you back, I wouldn’t have. It doesn’t matter that the gods chose you for me, I’m not here for them, so don’t assume that.”
Izuku looks at him seriously, and Katsuki can see then that he hasn’t gotten through to him. He turns away, frustrated with himself because he can’t say what he wants to without dying of embarrassment.
“It’s been a long time,” he says, and he hopes it’s enough.
“Yes, it has,” Izuku says.
“Did you not want me to get you,” he asks. “Did you need me to say no?”
“No, it’s not that. I just didn’t think that you would,” he says. “I mean, I knew I had to go back sometime, but I expected to be sent for. I thought you would write me back and tell me to pack my things, or your parents maybe, or maybe my mom. I didn’t expect you to come yourself. I didn’t think I would see you here like this.”
“Well, I’m here.”
“Why,” Izuku asks, his eyes filling with tears. “Why did you come for me?”
“Because I wanted to.”
Izuku shakes his head, his eyes welling up like he doesn’t believe him, and Katsuki finally steps towards him.
“Izuku,” he says. “I want to bring you back with me. No one sent me here, and I’m not leaving you here unless you want me to, and I’m going to warn you that Eijirou is a terrible liar, and it probably won’t work in the end.”
He wipes a tear off of Izuku’s cheek with his thumb as Izuku shakes his head at the suggestion, and he watches as the corners of his mouth tug away.
“I can come home,” he asks softly like the answer to that was ever out of his own hands.
“Yes,” he says. “You can come home.”
“Okay,” he sniffles. “I’m so glad.”
“You don’t look happy.”
“I am, I promise,” he says, managing a smile. “I just didn’t– I’m–.”
For once Katsuki gets close enough on purpose for Izuku to do what he wants, and this time when he throws his arms around him, Katsuki doesn’t have a reason to stop him or the need to pretend like he does.
“You’re wearing a shirt,” he wails against his chest, and Katsuki rolls his eyes.
“The elves have a dress code, don’t they?”
“Yeah, they do, but it’s weird,” he sniffles.
“And you’re wearing robes,” he says. “Someone might think you were a Todoroki.”
Izuku shakes his head, and Katsuki pulls him closer. “No, that’s not possible.”
“It’s not,” he asks, not expecting an answer, and he closes his eyes and lets his nose rest into a field of green.
He smells exactly like he did when they were children, stirring a memory that turns the dull ache in his chest into a searing brand. Izuku should have chosen to stay here.
He was ten years old when his parents told him, and Katsuki smashed three of his toys, including the practice sword his mother had given him. He flew into a childish rage that thinking of now as an adult always makes him sick for more reasons than one.
“I don’t want to marry him,” he shouted at his parents. “He can’t even hold a sword! He’s weak!”
“Katsuki, that’s enough,” Mitsuki warned, and gods does he wish now that he had listened.
“You’re fated,” Masaru tried to explain. “The gods chose him for you before you were born. This is their will just like I was chosen for your mother.”
“Well, the gods chose wrong,” Katsuki shouted. “Maybe they’re stupid! I don’t need them!”
“Katsuki, don’t speak of them like that,” Mitsuki said.
“Why shouldn’t I when they’ve cursed me,” Katsuki demanded. “How am I supposed to be the next great warrior king of our people if the gods gave me him?”
“The gods know more than we do,” Masaru said. “They see something in him there you don’t yet, but you will. Izuku is a good boy with a strong mind, and a great warrior king will need an advisor he can trust. Izuku is loyal, and you’ll need him.”
“I don’t need him,” Katsuki said in a rage. “I don’t need anyone! I can be king all by myself! You’re all so stupid for believing in that garbage. I won’t marry Izuku because I hate him! I hate all of you! He can go die for all I care! Let the dogs have him!”
“Katsuki?”
Katsuki turned around to see Izuku watching him, holding Inko’s hand, and he’d seen him cry a thousand times for a thousand different reasons, but this time was somehow different. Katsuki didn’t understand then, but as he grew older, he learned that he may as well have cut Izuku’s heart out instead. It would have been quicker.
Izuku turned and ran away, and Inko called after him before turning back to apologize to Katsuki’s parents.
“No, we’re sorry,” Mitsuki said, which at the time Katsuki considered a great betrayal.
“Katsuki, go tell Izuku you’re sorry,” Masaru said, and Katsuki scowled at him.
“No. Only weak idiots run away. If he can’t stay and fight, then he isn’t one of us.”
It was the first time his father ever looked disappointed in him. It’s a look that still gnaws at Katuski’s thoughts today.
A few months later, an elven envoy came, which Katsuki learned was the Todoroki family, a powerful clan of mages, and with them came their youngest son, a boy younger than both Katsuki and Izuku who could wield fire and ice from birth and was considered a master by anyone who met him.
Katsuki wanted to fight him. He wanted to defeat him in combat and have his own name spread across the world like his was, but Shouto took absolutely no interest in him, finding his challenge strange like he couldn’t conceive a reason to exert himself for no reason.
Katsuki had never been more insulted, and when he demanded his parents do something about it, they both laughed.
Shouto and Izuku, however, took to each other immediately, and Katsuki couldn’t understand it. Shouto was a powerful mage, even at that age, and Izuku was weak, and yet they were inseparable.
Katsuki watched them play through the castle windows, Shouto chasing Izuku in one direction, and Izuku chasing Shouto in the other. He couldn’t hear their laughter, but he could see it. He watched as Izuku tumbled through the grass, and Shouto dropped down next to him in his strange elven robes that floated to the ground like water.
“Why don’t you join them?”
It was Inko who asked, and Katsuki shook his head, unable to speak to her after what he’d said. Yes, he was a prince, but Inko was a clan head, and he had wished her son death and a dishonorable burial in the same breath.
She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a supportive squeeze, and Katsuki’s eyes stung in a way he didn’t like.
“Why would I wanna play with them?”
And then it was time for the Todoroki family to return to the elven lands, and to Katsuki’s complete surprise, Izuku left with them. It was his own choice, and Katsuki was stubbornly glad to be rid of him, but a part of him he didn't understand didn’t want him to go. It wasn’t fair. Izuku left, and Katsuki had to stay behind, and they would have to grow up and get married.
The gods chose them for each other, the only sons of two great warrior families, and it was a cruel joke because Izuku wasn’t even a warrior. He was born without any strength at all, and Katsuki knew when no one else could see it that if they joined together, their legacy would be disgraceful.
Izuku left for the elf lands to train in magic. It isn’t impossible for a human to learn, but none of Katsuki’s people are mages, so his decision itself was baffling. Perhaps the elves coming to their home soon after Katsuki rejected him was part of the gods’ will as well, because otherwise Katsuki isn’t sure Izuku would have ever known it was an option.
Katsuki has often wondered what Izuku’s magic looks like because he refuses to show him, but for them to get married, Izuku will have to pass a warrior’s trial to be considered worthy. Even if the gods fated them, their people will reject him if they think he’s inferior, and he won’t even be allowed to be laid to rest with them when he dies.
A young and stupid Katsuki thought if Izuku failed—which he would have because he was weak—or if he miraculously died, he would be free and he could rule their people without him.
But he hasn’t had a thought like that in a very long time.
They have written to each other constantly for the last few years, keeping each other thoroughly informed of their lives, but it was this last letter that set all of this in motion.
I’m ready.
It was all Izuku said—or at least, it was all Izuku wanted anyone else to think he said—but there was another page, a message hidden inside that only appeared when Katsuki touched it, and as soon as he let go, the writing vanished again.
Katsuki,
If you want to end our engagement, leave me here at the academy. I won’t force you to marry me, no matter what anyone else wants. You will be an amazing king one day, and it would be an honor to watch it happen, but I can’t live a life knowing that you resent me. We were fated by the gods, but your heart is the only thing in the world that matters to me.
I have used the magic I learned here to conceal this message so no one will know what it says but you. I had Shouto and Touya check it for me several times, and neither of them could make the writing appear, which means I think it worked, but I guess I won’t know unless you respond to me.
Regardless, this is important. If a part of you still hates me as much as you did when we were children, you can tell our people that I have turned my back on our ways and have chosen to remain here with the elves or whatever other lie you find the easiest to tell. You’ll be able to find someone your heart wants, and then maybe one day we can have the friendship I have always wanted. But if you’ve somehow changed your mind, it would make me so happy to get to come home and take my place at your side.
I miss you, Katsuki. I’m sorry to tell you like this, especially if it’s something you don’t want to know, but there has never been anyone in this world that I’ve ever loved as much as I have you. I don’t know if that’s the will of the gods or if it’s from my own heart, but I want you to know that whatever you decide to do, I will accept it, and I will never tell a soul the truth.
I hope you’re in good health, and I hope I get to see you again, even if it’s only to say goodbye, but I also hope that it isn’t. I’m sorry, I have so much to say, but I’m running out of enchanted ink, and I don’t want to have to borrow more.
As I always have been,
Your Izuku
Katsuki folded up this letter and tucked it away in a box for safe keeping, wiped his eyes, and brought the other message to his parents, not willing to waste any more time. Izuku was ready to come home, and he had to go get him.
Now they stand together in a place that Izuku considers safe and comforting, his own personal armory, and Katsuki lets him soak his tunic, which is exactly what Izuku is best at, while he runs his fingers through his unruly hair.
He wonders if Izuku actually thought Katsuki would leave him here, if he really has that little faith in him, and if so, why would Izuku still want to marry him?
Izuku inhales a sharp breath and steps back, his face swollen and flushed, and he laughs weakly at himself as he wipes at his own eyes. Katsuki pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and dabs away some of the tears from his cheeks before handing it to Izuku, who accepts it with an awkward smile before loudly and wetly blowing his nose into it.
Katsuki grimaces.
“Sorry,” he says sheepishly and doesn’t give it back.
“You and my dad could fill a reservoir,” Katsuki says as an offering.
Izuku sniffles. “Our kingdom’s crops would flourish.”
“The people would worship you like gods.”
“Oh no,” he laughs.
“Praise Izuku and Masaru,” he says, moving close enough to brush a finger along his sleeve. “They have saved us all from the drought.”
“You don’t have to tease me this much,” Izuku says.
“Yes, I do.”
After all, we’ll be married soon, he doesn’t say. Izuku is his to tease however much he wants. The gods decided it.
“We won’t leave immediately,” he says instead. “ This will be a big change for you, and we don’t have to rush it.”
Izuku nods. “Thank you, Katsuki. I appreciate that.”
“And Eijirou likes it here, so I’d rather not watch him pout the whole way home because he didn’t get to see everything,” he adds, rather than pointing out that leaving this place will break Izuku’s heart probably more than leaving home did. At least then he was determined and maybe a little angry, and he was free from having to look at Katsuki, who refused to look at him.
Stupid, horrible brat…
Izuku wipes his eye and laughs. “I’ll try to show him everything I’m allowed to, don’t worry.”
“I need you to do me a favor,” he says quickly, and Izuku looks at him, surprised.
“Of course,” Izuku says. “Anything.”
“I need you to not mention this to him yet,” he says, and Izuku frowns, confused. “I told him that the reason I’m coming here is a secret, and that I would tell him why after.”
“But everyone knows we’re getting married,” he says with a confused frown. “It was prophesied.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing about dragons,” Katsuki says. “No one really tells them what the oracles say, and I needed– I just need a few days, okay?”
“Okay, Katsuki,” Izuku says, always so damn understanding. “Whatever you want.”
“Thank you,” he says relieved.
A small puff of a laugh leaves Izuku’s lips that Katsuki can’t tell if it’s real or not. “Wow.”
“What?”
“You say thank you now.”