Ever After (BakuDeku)

Chapter Sixteen

"Well this is embarrassing," Katsuki muttered, inspecting the tire that had somehow managed to fall off the carriage. 

The coachman helped Izuku out of the carriage before turning to the prince, "we'll head back to the monastery at once, Your Highness."

"And we shall continue on foot," Izuku decided, looking not at all deterred by the accident as he turned to begin the travel.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, "it's half a days walk."

"Honestly, Your Highness," Izuku laughed, turning to face the prince, "where is your sense of adventure?"

Katsuki hummed, before catching up with Izuku.

~

"You would think I would know the way to my own castle," Katsuki frowned, pacing back and forth.

"Why is it noblemen never stop for directions?" Izuku asked from his perch on a tall tree as he attempted to locate the castle, "ah!" he gasped, "there it is! Back that way!"

Katsuki looked up at him, "And I can't believe i'm down here while you're down there."

Izuku just smiled, "you might break your royal neck, and then where would we be?"

"You swim alone, climb rocks, rescue servants," Katsuki listed before asking, "is there anything you can't do?"

"Fly," Izuku grinned, spreading his arms out as if to try, "now turn around and keep watch so I can climb back down."

Katsuki turned around, only to be met with someone's fist landing square on his face.

The blond fell to the ground, clutching his nose. 

The bandit grinned, drawing his sword. 

"Oh, no," Katsuki groaned, getting back up, "it's you again."

He recognized the group of thieves to be the ones who attempted to rob Signora Ashido. The one who had struck Katsuki stood in front of him, grinning madly. Katsuki remembered him to be the one who had taken the painting, though as Katsuki could recall, he hadn't gotten very far. 

The man had blonde hair, similar to Katsuki's but more yellow, with a black mark the shape of a lightning bolt on one side.

The prince called to Izuku, keeping his eyes on the man as Katsuki pulled out his sword, "Stay aloft, there are games afoot."

The man swung at Katsuki, missing his face by a mere centimeter. Katsuki countered the attack, their blades meeting. The bandit was quick, Katsuki would give him that, but he refused to be beaten by a criminal, especially not in front of Izuku.

Meanwhile, Izuku, determined to at least secure his belongings that he'd left on the ground when he began his climb, carefully climbed back down the tree.

The leader of the group, a tall purple haired man with tired eyes, noticed Izuku and grabbed the items, holding them tauntingly.

"You will give me back my things, sir," Izuku demanded, narrowing his eyes.

The man just grinned, turning to watch the current fight between one of his men and the prince.

Katsuki had dropped his sword, grabbing the bandit and throwing him to the ground before using his fists to continuously punch the blond haired bandit in the face.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Izuku jumped off the tree and onto the purple haired leader, tackling him to the ground. 

However, this victory was short lived, since the unoccupied bandits advanced on Izuku, easily overpowered him.

Katsuki stood, letting the man slump, unconscious. Katsuki glared at the leader, "let him go. Your quarrel is with me."

The purple haired man shrugged, nodding to his men, "release him."

Izuku shoved the bandit who had been restraining him away, turning towards the leader, "I insist you return my things at once. And since you deprive me of my escort," he continued, "I demand a horse as well."

"My Lord," The leader said, his voice dripping with amusement, "you may have anything you can carry."

Izuku let out a breath, "may I have your word on that, sir?"

The man nodded, "on my honor as a Romani, whatever you can carry."

Izuku held eye contact with the man for as long as he could while walking over to Katsuki. Izuku grabbed Katsuki's arm, and then his leg, lifting him up so the prince was practically draped over his shoulder.

The bandits broke out in a fit of laughter at the display, though Izuku ignored them. 

Even though the greenette was quite used to manual labor that left him with a decent amount of muscle, there was still a strain on his body and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to carry the prince.

Izuku gave the leader a brief smile before turning away, praying he could at least make it out of sight before he set Katsuki down.

Luckily, the leader of the bandits called after them, attempting to keep his voice steady through his laughter, "Oh wait! Please, come back!"

T.B.C

Idk how I feel abt this chapter tbh...

But I also don't know how to make it better...

~A