royally arranged

Firefly Trip [chapter 18]

You sat wrapped up in a blanket, still barefoot while you rode through the silence of the night in a somewhat old wagon. Shoto sat beside you, elbow propped up on the side of the wagon as he rested his chin in his hand. He was looking out the side of the wagon, his dark surroundings passing by.

It was silent between you and the other Todorokis, no one speaking a word as you rode down the backroads that were very well hidden behind the castle. Trees provided shadows over everything, the only source of light coming from the lantern Natsuo held and the moon when it peaked through the gaps in branches from the trees above.

Fuyumi read a book, taking in the light from the lantern Natsuo discreetly held in her direction so it was easier for her to see. You still had your glasses on, letting out small curses under your breath for not taking them off.

"Did know you wore glasses, princess," Touya hummed, eyes still trained on the dirt road in front of him.

"Well I do. I just forgot to take them off," you answered.

"Why don't you wear them more often?" Natsuo asked.

"Because I'm farsighted. I'm like an old person, I only need them for reading," you took the glasses off, folding them holding them in your hand. "And even when I do read, I'm typically able to do it without needing glasses."

"Lucky," Fuyumi looked up from her book with a fake pout, pointing at her own glasses as she did, "I need to wear these darn things 24/7 in order for me to even see!"

You let out a lighthearted laugh, your head tilting back a bit. Now, you couldn't see him but if you could, you would see the the Shoto Todoroki was blushing like a madman at your laugh. He found it cute, making him mentally scold himself for thinking such things.

Luckily for him, he was still facing with his back towards everyone and looking out into the woods that passed you.

"Does your brother wear glasses?" Natsuo asked, obviously curious to know more about the brother you had only really mentioned once very briefly.

"No," you shook your head with a small sad smile, "He has perfect vision as far as he's concerned."

Natsuo simply nodded, choosing not to further press questions into you. Instead, he looked out of the wagon at his surroundings, taking in the sounds of the horse trotting, wagon going over the roads, and the faint hoot that an owl would occasionally let out. The rest of the ride was silent. Fuyumi had resumed reading her book, Touya focusing solely on the roads in front of him, and you messing with your glasses as a form of entertainment.

At some point during the ride, Shoto had turned to you and grabbed your glasses from your hands, wrapping them up in a handkerchief he was forced to carry on him. He handed the object back to you and turned around like nothing happened before you could even thank him.

"Get out fuckheads," Touya said as he forced Charlie to halt his movements. He jumped off the front of the wagon, walking a little ways away from where you and his other siblings were and tying the horse to the closest tree to where he stopped the wagon.

Shoto opened the back of the wagon, jumping down and looking at you to come over to him. You did as he wanted, sitting down on the edge. He once again placed his hands around your waist, putting you down on the ground before turning his back to you.

Natsuo got out and helped Fuyumi, leaving the lantern inside. Fuyumi set her book down at the edge of the wagon once she got out, turning to the open field in front of all of you.

She looked at you and grabbed your hand, handing you a clear jaw from the back of the wagon and grabbing one for herself before leading you to the edge of the grass field. Natsuo joined the two of you at the edge of the field.

Meanwhile, Touya and Shoto leaned their backs on the side of the wagon. Shoto had his arms crossed as he watched over you, Touya doing the same for Natsuo and Fuyumi.

"Go on," Fuyumi let go of your hand, sticking her head in the direction of the field, "It's safe, I promise. I would never put you in harm's way, ever."

You stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding. With reluctance, you slowly enter the field. Under your bare feet, you could feel the cool grass tickling you. As you got further into the field, you saw a few fireflies fly up into the sky, making your eyes light up with excitement.

You smiled, turning back to Fuyumi and pointing out all the little critters that flew around and glowed in the air. Natsuo and Fuyumi let smiles of their own spread across their face.

"Go in further!" Natsuo told you, "It gets better!"

You rapidly shook your head up and down, full trust going in to what you he informed you of. Slowly creeping you way further in he center, you found yourself gasping and letting out a laugh.

A bunch of small lights flew up around you, the fireflies lighting up everything within a 3 foot range of you. You looked up towards the lit up creatures that flew above you, a smile on your face as your eyes flickered between every single one of them.

Shoto's eyes widened as his heart rate quickened the longer he stared at you. The way the fireflies lit up your face, the somewhat wild hair that framed your face, the cloak that loosely covered your figure and the dress that hung out from beneath where cloak couldn't cover.

Shoto Todoroki was developing a crush on the person he claimed to hate.

He shamelessly stared at you, a blush covering his face as he took in your features. He was currently saving this image in his mind. He gulped, licking his lips a bit as he watched you laugh and happily walk around the field.

Touya took a quick glance at his brother to check on him and then looked back up at Fuyumi and Natsuo. However, he did take a double take and stared at his younger brother with a knowing smirk.

Touya nudged Shoto's shoulder, making the make with heterochromatic hair hesitantly take his eyes off of you and look at his older brother. He groaned in annoyance when he saw his brother smirking.

"You like the princess, don't you?" Touya wiggled his eyebrows.

Shoto didn't answer for a bit, rolling his eyes and looking back at you, "Shut up."

"Aww~" Touya cooed, "The baby of the family has a crush!"

"I said shut up," Shoto snapped, brows furrowed as he groaned, dragging a hand down his face and pushing Touya a bit. The older of the two simply laughed.

"Come on, Dabi, Shoto!" Fuyumi called out to the two.

The two males looked at each other. Touya cocked his head in the direction of the field with a small smile.

"Go ahead," he told his younger brother, "I'll watch the wagon."

Shoto nodded, leaving his older brother to go catch fireflies with his other siblings plus his fiancé. You ran around in the field for at least another hour, you eventually getting tired to the point you were on the brink of falling asleep.

"We should go back," Touya came into the field for the first time the whole trip. He pointed between you and Fuyumi, "You two need to go to bed."

Shoto simply nodded, picking you up bridal style before you even had a chance to register what was happening. He carried you back to the wagon, setting you down and wrapping your up in a blanket before getting in himself.

Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Touya got in and before they knew it, they were heading back to the castle.

Shoto checked his pocket watch, seeing the time was already past 3 am, something Dabi said he didn't want. Looking around the wagon, Shoto noticed all the people on the back were knocked out.

Natsuo and Fuyumi were using each other to lean on, both wrapped up in blankets of their own and snoring softly. Well Natsuo snored like a dad, but that didn't matter. You were resting with your body stretched out, taking up a whole section of the wagon. You looked at peace, soft snores could be heard from you if you got closer to your nose.

Shoto smiled, picking you up and rearranging the way you were positioned. You were now resting mostly on Shoto, snuggling into his chest and smiling at the new warmth.