Travel The Distance

Chapter 20

*Katsuki's POV*

I stood outside the door of the servant's dining quarters and listened to Icyhot and Four Eyes scream at each other about loyalty. I felt unwarranted and unnecessary guilt swarm in my chest. I had been the one to cause Shoto to question his friend's loyalties. I had caused this argument between the two. The guilt I felt only made me angry.

As King, it was in my best interest to put the Kingdom before myself. If one of Icyhot's friends was going to snitch to King Enji, then I would have to kill them. All of them. If Four Eyes or any of them said a word to their home kingdoms, then I would have to rush all of my people up into the mountains to keep them safe. I would have to fight in a war which I wasn't yet prepared for.

Soon, the two men calmed down and the group fell into a silence. The silence was broken when Deku spoke up in support of Icyhot and defence of my kingdom. It was a surprise. I didn't expect a nerd like him to speak in defence of my kingdom and it's people. I knew he was a sympathetic person, but I thought he'd want to escape this castle full of dragons with his wife so that their kid could grow up in a safer, more familiar place.

When Pink Cheeks spoke, I understood why neither she nor her husband wanted to go back to their home Kingdom. They were both peasants and from the sounds of it, they didn't have it easy. I listened as Round Cheeks spoke of her experiences as a low-class citizen in Endeavour. The homelessness, the eating disorder, having to do unspeakable things just to get back on her feet. I cannot describe the amount of disgust I felt at the knowledge that guards killed the homeless. If Pink Cheeks was willing to raise her child in a foreign land which she was forced to stay in if she was willing to leave behind what little she had in hopes that her child would have a better life than her... Her words told me all I need to know. Neither Izuku nor Ochako would run back to their home Kingdom. For their child, for the hope that they could find a better life here, even if it was as servants.

Four Eyes was reluctant as he agreed not to run back to Endeavour. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice as he spoke. I would have to keep an eye on him. Shoto said something to him, a thank you maybe, but I didn't stick around to listen. I had heard all that I needed to. I needn't worry all too much about Shoto's companions betraying him ( and consequently me) to his father. They would most likely follow their prince to the ends of the earth. Undying loyalty.

That night, I had trouble falling asleep. I tossed and turned until the moon reached its peak in the sky. I lay on my bed, watching the stars twinkle serenely through the flowing curtains which fluttered in the slight wind coming from my open balcony door. The slight wind which blew over my half-naked body soothed my heated skin.

An odd sense of calm had washed over me as I watched the moon and stars. Something ached in my chest at the sight of the velvety darkness which was littered with hundreds, maybe thousands, of stars. Each one of them shone like beacons to those in need. A shining hope for those who were lost in darkness. My mother had told me of one of the tribe's beliefs when I was young. She had told me under the silvery light of the moon, in the dead of night when everyone but the sentries was asleep, that the stars were our dead ancestors. They shone down on us so that they could guide us through life and keep away all of the evils of the world. They protected us from the deepest darknesses and kept the flightless monsters away. She had told me the moon was comprised of all of the pure souls of the tribe's previous leaders as well as the leaders that came before the tribe was formed.

I had long since grown out of this belief. I knew that nothing could truly keep all of the evil away. Especially not some distant glowing lights in the sky. But... On nights like that one, when sleep evades me and I am left staring up at the stars as I did when I was a young boy, I couldn't help but hold out hope. Hope that the adults I looked up to and loved so much were all looking down at me with pride and protecting me in their own way. I didn't tell my parents I loved them a lot as a child, I was too stubborn for that, but I wish I did. If I had one wish, it would be to see the Hag and Old Man just one more time and tell them how much I missed them. Sob into their arms like I had wanted to do so many times in the last 14 years.