Song of Silence

1:6

Shouto POV

When Izuku and I get up, nobody mentions my obvious tear stains or scratches, which I appreciate. Izuku stays with me while Tenya and Ochaco explore town. I sit at the head of the bed, studying the songs and our map. Izuku sits at the foot, cleaning his sword. I try to focus on the work in front of me, but Ochaco's words keep coming back to me.

Anything. No, everything. I think he'd do everything for Shouto.

I sigh and roll up the scroll that will kill my comrades. I lay down and put my feet on the wall.

"Everything alright?" Izuku asks.

"Yeah." I say. "Just...thinking."

Izuku shifts so he's closer to me.

"Can I ask what you're thinking about?"

"The Song of Silence. The map. Our plan. Something Ochaco said. Kind of everything. And kind of all at once."

"Wow. Well, want to talk about it?"

I pause. I might feel better if I talk, but with what Ochaco said?

Anything. No, everything. I think he'd do everything for Shouto.

"Yeah." I decide. "Yeah."

"Let's start with the Song. You can't tell me the lyrics, but what about the basic gist? Is that safe?"

"Maybe."

"Let's try." He picks up a scroll. I hesitate, sitting up slowly. "Shouto, I'll be fine."

"Ok." I take a deep breath. "The Song is a story that ends with a warning. In the Song, a brave warrior travels through the land to hide the Stone of Silence. He vaguely describes obstacles that he uses to guard it and gives warnings and the way to get past them. The first verse is the literal location. It says some things that make me think of the Dragon Mountains, but also the Flaming Wasteland." I point to each spot on the map. Far away from each other, each is likely. "I'd suggest splitting up, but that's a bad idea wrapped in stupidity." Izuku laughed at my analogy. "But seriously. I've been studying these lyrics all morning and I've only figured out one thing."

"What's that?"

"One of the lines is about the sun and secrets. I think we can only travel at night."

"Well, that's good to know."

"There's a tavern down the street that opens after dark. It's not exactly a black market, but they certainly don't sell normal things. It's called the Adventurers Haven. I think I have a second cousin there. I can ask her."

"Ok, cool. You mentioned Ochaco and thinking about something she said. What was it?"

Anything. No, everything. I think he'd do everything for Shouto.

"Nothing important. Just...something about you having a brother?" I make up quickly, thinking back to her conversation with Tenya.

"What? Oh. Yeah. Kacchan. My mom adopted him, but he ran away when he was twelve. No one knows where he went. I hope he's ok."

"Well, my fiancée is also missing. I don't even like him. Well, he's a nice boy, but I feel nothing romantic toward him."

"Prince Eijiro, right?"

I am surprised he remembers.

"Yeah. Eijiro is sweet, but neither of us would be happy together. Back when I knew him, he always said he wanted more than just a royal life. He wanted to see the people firsthand. Not from a royal's point of view, but from a commoner's. If he met your Kacchan, I bet he'd stick with him."

"Kacchan is explosive. Quite literally. His quirk is explosions. He wouldn't let anyone stick with him."

"Eijiro can harden his skin. He's like glue." I pause, looking back at the map. I run my fingers over the sea, where it says Pirates! "I just hope they're ok."

"I'm sure they are."

Izuku rubs my shoulder. I sit back, a little surprised when I find myself leaning on his arm.

"Sorry." I sit back up.

"It's fine." He says quickly. "I don't mind."

I lean back cautiously, resting on his chest. His hand came up to play with my hair and I relaxed. We sit in silence for a while. He holds the map, looking over the land.

Anything. No, everything. I think he'd do everything for Shouto.

The silence is a little awkward, so I break it.

"You're smaller than me." I say. "A lot smaller."

He laughs. "You don't have to rub it in my face, Sho. I know I'm tiny."

"You're not tiny! Just...short."

He laughs again and I feel warm inside.

"Maybe I'm average height. Maybe you're just tall." He teases.

"I'm not-" I pause. "Ok I am tall. But you're short too!"

I'm the one to laugh this time. By the time Ochaco and Tenya return, we've calmed down and I have a better idea of where we need to go. I'm still laying on his chest, his hands in my hair, but I have the map now and he's looking over shoulder. Occasionally, one of us will make a snarky comment and the other will laugh, but we're pretty focused.

"Look," I say as the door opens, "the Endeavor Kingdom looks like a poop."

Izuku laughs.

"Um...what?" Ochaco looks confused.

"The Endeavor Kingdom." Izuku repeats my words. "It looks like a poop."

"Sometimes I wonder for your sanity."

And that's that. I share with Tenya and Ochaco what we've discovered and tell them my plan.

"So we're going to the Dragon Mountains for the next clue, which will make sense with the song?" Ochaco says.

"Yes. From there, we'll know our next step."

"Ok. And we can only travel at night?"

"Yes. After dark tonight, we can go to the Adventurer's Haven. Then, tomorrow night, we'll head out."

Everyone settles to wait for dusk. Later, there's a knock at our door. Izuku and I are still curled up on the bed and Ochaco was practicing a water spell that required her undivided attention, so Tenya got the door.

"Hi. I have dinner for the Lady Winter Sun and I guess you guys can have some too." Magnus's voice can be heard.

Izuku laughs and rubs my shoulder.

"How dare you laugh at my Winter Angel!" Magnus yells.

He can't see me and Izuku, but we are both laughing.

"Thank you, Magnus." Tenya says, taking the food.

"I'll get you for-"

Tenya closes the door, effectively cutting him off. He scraps out portions for himself and Ochaco, handing me and Izuku the rest of the plate.

"Eat quickly, guys." I can see outside. "It's dark out."