Fates Entwined (A TodoBaku ff) ✔

LXXXVIII

Shoto awoke with the morning chorus of songbirds that had migrated to the willow trees in his mother's garden. Once again they were blessed with good weather, helping Shoto not to spend too much time worrying over the late arrival of his friends. The morning passed with a book and pot of tea in the library with Hitoshi, and everyone had lunch in the greenhouse together. There were many compliments about the arrangements and diverse flora that caught the eye, a sense of pride running through him whenever someone complimented the flower beds and arrangements he had helped manage in his spare moments. 

The afternoon passed in a similar fashion, enjoying his own company whilst retiring early to his room to finish his book. He had found a fascinating novel in one of the dust-covered shelves at the back of the library, books and tomes long untouched. It was a romance story, his tastes having expanded from when he would think such a genre ridiculous to resulting in enjoying the genre since he had spent many hours reading through Katsuki's own collection. A runaway thief vowed to travel across the world to save his love from an arranged marriage, fighting monsters and nobles alike, and now he hoped the story would end happily for them both, perhaps to live together in a quiet cottage in the woods, or in a small village where nobody knew their names. 

He had just turned another yellowed page when a knock sounded at his door, and it opened just as he had marked his page and stood to answer it himself. Momo walked in quickly, looking rather rushed and out of breath, yet there was a gleam in her eye that had Shoto hastening to meet her. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, checking for any sign of distress on her out of breath form. 

"More than alright. You must come quick, Tokoyami has excellent news!"

And with that, Momo grabbed his hand and they ran without any airs and graces to the guest quarters, heading into Tokoyami's room unannounced. 

"You must tell him so he can head out immediately!" She told the man, squeezing Shoto's shoulder before heading off, presumably to share the news with everyone else. 

Shoto turned from her figure disappearing down the hallway to Tokoyami, who had been standing at his window where a long black spyglass had been placed. It must be a rather brilliant sight, considering how even Tokoyami's usual pensive expression held a more enthusiastic look. 

"It seems the dusk has brought you a gift, Shoto." Tokoyami told him before gesturing to the spyglass for Shoto to use himself. 

He was rather confused, his thoughts running through a myriad of different possibilities, one in particular leaving him hopeful and a little excited. He reached the spyglass and leaned down to it, twisting the dial to focus the lens to discover for himself what all the commotion was about. At first all he could see was one of the distant dirt paths that led to the forest, mostly used by one of the closest villages to the castle to collect wild berries and herbs from the forest. The path was empty, only faint marks of long-passed carts, so he moved the spyglass slowly, following each curve of the path carefully. He hadn't noticed his breath was trapped in his lungs until a burst of colour interrupted the long brown line.

The colours at first blurred together until distinct shades of pink, red, yellow and black could be seen, the group moving closer to one of the kingdom's outer gates. He exhaled shakily, leaning closer into the contraption in hopes of a better view. The colours soon gained faces, ever so bright despite how far away they were, all with matching grins to share. Shoto felt the corners of his lips turning up in response, and he moved the spyglass from one face to another, recalling every little detail until it reached the person at the back of the group, their presence demanding the most attention.

He stood back up and looked over to Tokoyami who was waiting for him at the door with a knowing look.

"Momo thought it to be a good idea to meet them at the gates. If we left now we'd have just enough time, wouldn't you agree?"