Katsuki didn't know how much time had passed in that room, but he did know that he spent most of that time sleeping.
He woke up long enough to notice that the meal on the nightstand was changing every time, but he didn't touch them. No matter how hungry he got, none of the food looked good to him. It made him want to gag.
Eventually, Katsuki woke up to find Shoto sitting on the end of his bed, staring at him with those blank, heterochromic eyes of his.
"What do you want?" Katsuki asked, voice creaky from misuse.
"Will avenging him really help you?"
"We're not having this discussion again."
"You're right. We're not. But we ARE having a different one."
Katsuki sat up. He didn't say a word to make this strange prince leave.
"Do you think that killing him will make the world a better place?"
"I do."
"And do you think it's what Eijirou would want?"
Katsuki took a deep breath. "No. It's not."
"But you're still going to do it."
"Yeah. For me. For closure."
"Alright."
"I just need to know where to find this guy."
"Hold out your hand."
"What? Why?"
"Just hold out your hand."
"I swear to god, if you're gonna do some sappy shit, I'll blast you out of this room faster than you can say 'daddy issues'."
"Like you could try."
"I fucking could. Just watch me."
Shoto rolled his eyes. "Are you going to hold out your hand or not?"
Katsuki sighed, sticking his hand out reluctantly.
Shoto pressed his closed fist against his palm, fingers down, meeting Katsuki's eyes with an intense stare.
"The light will lead you to where you want to be. I had one of my castle sorceresses whip it up."
"The one with the boobs?"
"I don't know. I don't pay attention to that."
"It's the boob one. She sucks. I got this potion from her once and-"
"Just take the damn pathfinder, you hot-headed anger factory."
"What the fuck is a factory. We don't have those in this world."
"Jesus Christ." Shoto opened his hand, dropping the tiny glass ball in Katsuki's hand. "Break this when you want to find him."
"Yeah."
"I'll be leaving now." Shoto stood, starting across the room at a slow pace until Katsuki stopped him.
"Wait."
"What?"
"I uh..." This wasn't something he was used to having on his tongue, but he had to give it a go.
"Spit it out." Shoto sighed. It was clear that he just wanted to leave, and Katsuki didn't blame him.
"Thank you."
"You know," Shoto crossed his arms. "Izuku didn't want me giving you that thing. He still doesn't. So don't let him find out about it, okay?"
"You really did that? You went behind your friend's back for somebody like me?"
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because you're miserable, and a kingdom can't be run on misery."
"Right."
"Is there anything else you need or can I go now?" Shoto tapped his foot, the sound echoing across the entire room.
"There's one more thing." Katsuki said, voice soft. "Take care of my kingdom."
"Even if you don't come back?"
"Especially if I don't come back."
"I'll do what I can." Todoroki shrugged. "But I can't promise the world."
Katsuki nodded softly. "That's good enough for me."
