TodoDeku :: Entangled Disasters

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Kacchan, no!"

The blade halted immediately, barely a hair away from the Omega's neck.

Izuku stood between the Prince and King, panting heavily with tears in his eyes. Arms spread wide, he blocked the King's path to the Prince.

Katsuki looked wide-eyed to the greenette in front of him, chest heaving. "Izuku..?"

"Please... Please, spare him, Kacchan..." Izuku whimpered, visibly trembling yet standing his ground.

The blond grit his teeth, glare returning as he retracted his blade. "Deku, get out of my way."

"No!" He yelped, moving with the King as he attempted to step around him. "Please- listen to me!"

"Izuku..?" Shoto finally released the breath he was holding, wanting to reach out to him. He needed to make sure the Omega was truly there.

However, the Omega didn't avert his attention.

The King growled deeply. "He kidnapped you!"

"No! No, he didn't!" Izuku gasped, grabbing onto Katsuki to prevent the King from pushing him aside. "He helped me escape!"

"What?"

"Shoto helped me escape! The Emperor- he was the one that took me!"

Katsuki huffed and twitched, glaring over Izuku's curls to the Prince behind him. "He still has your scent all over him... The vile thing is exactly like his piss-poor Father-"

"No-" Izuku cried, pressing into the King as he tried pushing forward. "No, please... You killed the Emperor already... Why kill the Prince when I'm right here..?"

The King's teeth ground together. Shoto's eyes stung with tears. "Izuku... Don't..."

"I can go back home now, Kacchan... That's what you wanted, right? So take me home... No one else needs to die, okay..?"

Katsuki growled softly before finally sheathing his blades. He grabbed Izuku and yanked him close. Izuku bit back a yelp, gripping him tighter. "Fine... I'll call a truce, then. I got what I wanted." He turned, forcing the Omega with him as he whistled above the bellow of the flames. His soldiers began to draw back.

The King looked back to the bloodied Prince, eyes narrowed. "If you ever step foot in my kingdom... I'll rip your throat out..."

Shoto grit his teeth, wounds and head throbbing. "Let him go..."

"What, and let you have him!?" Katsuki scoffed, grabbing the reins a red-headed man handed to him. "Deku is coming back home with me, where he'll be safe and far from the likes of you."

Izuku gasped as he was lifted onto the pommel of Katsuki saddle, fingers curling tightly into the horse's mane as Katsuki mounted behind him, trapping him between his arms.

Shoto's eyes met Izuku's veridian ones for just a moment. Panic and fear swam with tears as he was turned away.

"No... No, Izuku," he gasped, stumbling forward.

Katsuki blocked Izuku from Shoto's sight, just the slightest tuft of green peeking above the King's shoulder.

The army retrested away, returning home.

Tenya ran to Shoto, grabbing onto him before he could fall. "Your highness, what happened?"

Shoto leaned into his guard, the smoke becoming too much. "He has Izuku... The King took Izuku..."

~

The old palace teamed with new life, nurses and doctors bustling above to attend all the injured.

Shoto had only visited this palace twice that he could remember. It was a beautiful palace. Much smaller than the one his father had built, but beautiful none-the-less.

The building had been well-maintained in the time it was unoccupied. Paintings of past Kings and queens lined the grand hall, mahogany columns lining the throne room. The infirmary was larger than the one he grew up with, and luckily still semi-stocked. There wasn't enough to treat everyone, but enough to treat the worst of it.

Shoto sat on the bed in the grand King's room. His room, now. His father's palace was beyond repair, fires too strong and fierce to douse.

So, this palace is his new home.

But it didn't feel right.

It's been days and he hasn't slept. He couldn't eat properly and no matter what he did, nothing smelled right.

His injuries were healing well, lungs steadily recovering from all the smoke he inhaled.

Shoto just couldn't stop thinking of those veridian eyes. The fear gleaming in them.

And Shoto did nothing but stand and watch as the Beast King stole him away.

~

Izuku lay in the tent, curled up on the pelts that smelled of caramel and smokey pine. He stared blankly at the side of the tent, fingers curled into the pelts.

Katsuki huffed as he entered the tent. "Didn't I tell you to get out and get some air before we rest?"

"Sorry, Kacchan... I guess I forgot."

"You forget a lot of things," the King muttered, sitting behind him. "And you're too trusting. That Prince is exactly like that vile man that raised him-"

"Don't talk about Shoto like that!" Izuku shouted, sitting up quickly. He froze up as he noticed the King's startled expression and looked away. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to yell... I just... He was my friend. I trust Shoto with my life. He's nothing like his father, Kacchan."

Katsuki breathed deeply, running his fingers through his hair. "Alright... I believe you. Will you please... Come outside and eat? I know that your time in Endeavor must have been stressful. Did they feed you well?"

Izuku nodded. "I ate well." He hesitated before taking Katsuki's offered hand and allowed himself to be lead out of their tent.

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