His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 15

September 29, XX84
-The Royal Box, Above the Colosseum-

        Katsuki heard crickets.

        It was to be expected, of course. A strange, powerful, blood-covered fighter had just claimed to be the desolate angry prince's long-lost sunshine of a fiance. The palace believed him dead.

        Hanta and Denki looked at each other and then Izuku, shocked, but not surprised. They had suspected. Tenya's hand clenched around his sword hilt, unsure how to react. Shota sat up in his chair, looking to be paying attention, for once. Hizashi blinked at Eijiro for a long moment. Opened his mouth to say something. Closed it. Repeat.

        Eijiro stood patiently, his muscles still tensed from the recent match. Still ready to fight, still ready to run, prepared for any foul surprise. But there was an easy smile on his face now, an old, familiar sight, and it eased many of Katsuki's stressed reservations. Thankfully, he wiped the blood from his face, which did an unsurprising amount to ease the psychotic serial killer aura he was exerting.

        After a moment of shock, the queen turned to Katsuki, outrage written on every one of her features. "You can't be serious."

        "I assure you, I am," he smiled.

        "This isn't going to work."

        He blinked. "Beg your Pardon?"

        "This plan of yours, where you enlist a false Eijiro as some royal 'fuck you' to the elders. Clever, but it is disgraceful to use his promise to you in such a manner and it won't--"

        "Mother, I haven't needed to falsify anything," Katsuki growled protectively, realizing what his mother thought. That this was something he would be indecent enough to lie about. "However, it is by a sheer miracle that Izuku managed to actually find him in Dian."

        "Don't lie to me, Katsuki, don't--" her voice broke and she raised a hand to her mouth, and Katsuki's glare softened. "Please be serious," she managed. She was in denial, to protect herself if this was a trick. Eijiro had grown so close to the royal family that he had been practically adopted. His disappearance had felt like losing a son. His parents had become her friends, and she had lost them all when he went missing and was still expected to maintain the strong and unbreakable persona of the Bakugo monarchs.

        "I swear it, Mother, I am being serious," he promised softly.

        The queen gestured widely at the arena, still trying to quell her hope with anger. "This is what you've been keeping from me? What's got you all smiley and forgiving and crap?"

        "Yes. It was meant to be a surprise."

        Her lip quivered, and she whirled on Izuku. "You knew! And you said nothing."

        Izuku frowned nervously, picking at his fingers. "I apologize for the untruths, Your Majesty, but His Highness made me swear not to say anything. I was not even sure of what I had found until breakfast this morning."

        "How?" The queen asked, her voice small. "How... how did you... Izu--" a rune burned on the inside of her wrist, cutting her off, and the voice that followed was confused and slightly panicked.

        "Your Majesty, if I'm being honest, I have no idea how to handle this, I kinda just want to cry, is this real?" Hizashi whined, at least clever enough to be subtle about it.

        "Just deal with it the normal way," the queen answered. "I'll deal with it myself later."

        Hizashi nodded at the queen, killing their connection through the link charm and once again addressing the boisterous, shocked audience. He was good at covering, good at bluffing, and he kept his wits, even while declaring a dead man the victor--