Ethereal ◆ Shoto Todoroki x Reader

48.5 | The Prince's Question

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Izuku Midoriya is in the guard's wing of the castle, rattled at the fact that the future queen now knows of One for All. Would she use it against him, perhaps? Tell anybody else? He doesn't know the princess very well, but surely she wouldn't, especially after what seemed like a genuine promise.

He has to tell All Might someone knows of the power. But how? There's no scheduled trips to the Toshinori kingdom, at least not any that he knows of. Maybe he should ask Commander Aizawa. 

Yeah. That's what he'll do.

He goes to his room, where his roommate, an undersized grape boy known as Mineta, is lying on his cot. 

"Uhm," Izuku asks, tapping on the doorframe, "do you happen to know where the Commander is?" 

Mineta looks up, shaking his head. "No, but have you seen Kaminari?"

Izuku thinks a bit. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him since this morning. I'll keep an eye out though."

Kaminari was Izuku's other roommate, with an incredible quirk related to electricity. Izuku can't even count the times he's been shocked during a handshake, some of Kaminari's so called pranks. Sometimes Izuku is glad that the male and female guards' dorms are separated, namely because of his two roommates. Mineta is not known for being respectful.

The green-haired guard walks down the hall, eyes skimming the guards skittering about. He wonders why everyone seems in such a rush. 

Since the prince is getting married soon and the guests are supposed to arrive tomorrow, he can understand, but there's usually not this much tension in the air in the guards' wing. 

Someone bumps him in the shoulder as they pass by.

"Oh! Sorry!" The girl squeaks, her short brown hair bouncing around her face. Her cheeks turn pinker than they usually are.

Izuku recognizes her immediately. "O-Oh! Uraraka, sorry I was in th-the way," he says, rubbing the back of his head.

"No worries," she smiles, "everyone's just in a big hurry since the prince is making a surprise visit. Who knows why. It must be pretty serious."

"W-well, then, sorry to interrupt."

Uraraka shuffles on with the crowd, leaving Izuku alone with his cheeks dusted pink.

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All of the guards were told to stay in their rooms, so Kaminari's back, along with Mineta. Izuku is sitting on his cot, across from the two.

"So what do you think it's about?" Kaminari says, his chin resting on his hand. "I've heard the prince is a pretty stoic guy. He sounds kinda scary to me."

"I heard he's a complete lady killer," Mineta giggles, as if dreaming about being a prince himself, "and that him and his fiancé didn't even wait until their wedding night."

"Shh," Kaminari interrupts, "someone's coming."

They all stand at the sound of a knock on the door, then a voice.

It's the commander's.

"Please rise for His Highness, Prince Todoroki," Commander Aizawa says, opening the door. His voice is monotone and emotionless, but the prince looks like he's used to it.

Izuku, Kaminari, and even Mineta bow deeply, before the prince clears his throat and gestures to Izuku. 

"Please come with me," the prince says, "I would like to speak with you."

Kaminari pats Izuku on the back, thinking it a good thing. Mineta stays quiet, fearing the prince heard his earlier comment on the prince's lady-killing abilities.

And so Izuku follows the prince out of the room with no complaints.

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After the Commander leaves the two alone, Izuku swears he sees the prince let out a breath as if he was nervous about the encounter. He shakes his head. Nonsense. 

The prince turns to him, a question on his face.

Izuku braces himself for the absolute worse.

"Are you All Might's secret love child or something?" 

Izuku tries to keep his jaw from dropping. The prince seems to mistake his surprise for what he thinks is the truth.

"Don't worry," he says, thinking he's figured the guard out, "I won't tell anyone. That probably wouldn't do anything good, anyways."

"N-no!" Izuku protests, coming to his senses, "It-it's nothing like that!"

Only people who know King Toshinori personally call him All Might, so Izuku thinks the prince must've met him before. That means he probably also knows what the king's quirk looks like, which probably led him to conclude such a thing.

Izuku's denial is fruitless, however, as the prince's theory seems set in stone. 

"Don't say anything to people," Izuku says in one last attempt before the prince walks away.

"I won't," the prince replies, and then he's gone.

Izuku sighs, heading back to the guards' wing to prepare for the arrival of the wedding guests.

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A/N:

Some sad news: as of now, Ethereal is nearing its end. There's probably going to be about 50-55 chapters to conclude the story. (not including the epilogue and bonus chapters)

GOOD news: I've posted a new story on my profile, the one I previously released a teaser for. It's called Crossfire: Villain Deku x Reader. Go check it out!!

Have a nice day :)