A Royal Ice Heart

32.

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| Izuku POV |

I walked in straight towards his nightstand, leaving the heavy coat there. What was unusual was that the coat seemed heavier than before? I was sure I dried it off, so it can't be that.

"Izuku, what're you looking at?" I heard Kachan ask from the other side of the room.

I didn't reply, I was too deep in my thoughts. I decided to pick the cloak up for further examination, and that solved the problem. My stupid self accidentally picked up my suit and the cloak at the same time. 

"Izuku, what's that?" I heard him ask, this time a bit closer.

I sighed," It's my suit for tonight, I didn't realize I picked it up along with your coat."

I could've sworn I saw a look of happiness in his eyes when I said that.

"Well isn't that great you can change here, it's getting late anyway!" I heard him exclaim, yes exclaim.

"N-no, I think I should-"

"Nope, strip," I felt my cheeks go red at his straightforward way of saying that.

"F-fine," I mumbled. I honestly could never deny him, now could I?

Thinking about it I had seen him shirtless quite a few things, but he hasn't not even once. I guessed this was fine. Stupid me. 

I turned the other way and took my pants off. I felt my face bury deeper into my turtle neck trying to hide my blush, my hands pulling the sleeves down even more. I was fine with doing this in front of him, I was fine with it being his room, but what I was not fine with was his burning gaze looking right through me.

"Could you not stare," I finally spoke.

"Whaddya say?" I heard him ask. He definitely heard me though.

I took the turtle neck off and quickly put the shirt of the suit on. I thought I had averted the crisis. I started from the bottom, putting my buttons up. Yet, of course, I suddenly felt a hand yank me towards him, automatically turning my body around. 

"K-Kachan," I spoke my voice a bit too high pitched. Even I thought I sounded whiny.

"Well aren't you adorable," he teased.

"Sh-shut up," I tried pulling myself away but to no avail.

"Hmm," I heard him make a sound, but it wasn't teasing.

"W-what," I asked unaware of his action.

"Your arms, they have a few scars," he spoke sliding his finger to pull my shirt down. 

"L-let go," I pleaded and finally seemed to shake him off.

"How'd you get them...they look bad," I heard him say.

I never really told anyone about this before. It brought back painful memories, memories I didn't want to remember. I'm sure he saw the blatant contortion of pain presented on my face.

"If you don't want to then you don't have to," he consoled, bending down a bit to look at my eyes.

"No, it's fine..." I felt that even if it hurt, it was memories I had to get over one day. And I felt like I could trust him...it may not be so important, but to me, trust was an emotion I learned to cherish with my life and give only to those I'd be willing to give my life to. 

"I told you about the war right, yeah so when I was sixteen, maybe seventeen, I heard the Northern king found my brother at one of the borders. It wouldn't matter so much if he wasn't part of a rebel group. They said they were going to lock him up and made sure he paid for his sins, which meant torture. My brother was really, how do I say this, weak, emotional, no, he just cared for little things too much, and after that scar on his face after the war, he took it too personally I didn't want him to suffer more."

I found myself almost shivering in fear at the memory.

"S-so I offered, I offered to take his place, and the king agreed after much pleading. I also had to tell my brother to leave the rebel group. I took his place, and in my entire life, I don't think I can ever feel so much pain again. Lashes, whips, knives, confinement any kind of torture you can think of. I was put through hell, and I even broke a few, many bones. So after I left I spend at least a month healing, through which most of the scars healed, but a few of them didn't. But I'm fine now," I finished off, quickly adding the last sentence when I saw Kachans face radiating sheer anger at whoever did this. 

"Izu," I heard him call out.

"Forget it, it was a long time ago, you don't have to sympathize with me now," I tried getting over it.

I saw him shake his head before grabbing on to me and looking up at me.

"No, I wouldn't sympathize with you. You sympathize with the weak and you weren't. I don't think these scars make you sorrowful if fact I think they make you look stronger, and I don't mean just in the physique." he mentioned, and I didn't even realize how much those words meant until now.

"Oh, and no lie you're absolutely hot, you look so frail on the outside, but damn."

"K-Kachan," I stuttered. I didn't even know how to feel after those two statements. However, I suddenly felt open. As if someone knew so much about me, and that almost scared me. How he could make me smile, comfort me, know exactly what I'm thinking. I felt absolutely transparent. And in these thoughts, I remembered what I was wearing, or exactly what I wasn't wearing.

"Umm, I'm gonna wear my clothes now, in the bathroom this time," I spoke, having no intention to be swayed by him. I quickly grabbed my clothes and ran towards the bathroom shutting the door. 

I leaned against the door and felt my legs go limp. I buried my head in my suit, a strange feeling boiling in my stomach. It was so new; so different; so strong; so...so interesting. I couldn't even control myself. For some reason, everything looked different right then. I couldn't quite understand this feeling...but what I did know was that I couldn't stop smiling. Like an idiot, I stayed there, an expression of unconditional glee plastered on my face. 

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When you find true love, even bitter hate can find a burst of colors. Everything sparkles, and you'll never be able to stop smiling. Izuku never knew those words. He had never met her but if he did, he would've known right then the emotion that so strongly engulfed his entire presence. Because right then, he found himself falling for Bakugou yet again.