royally arranged

Hallway [chapter 38]

Waiting outside a room in a long, empty and quiet hallway was not an ideal way to spend a night. In fact, you wouldn't even be here in the first place if it weren't for the fact Diana seemed distressed and wanted you and Shoto to wait there.

The two of you were the only ones sitting outside the king's room for a good chunk of time, but eventually Fuyumi joined as that was when she got the news. Gradually, more and more people ended up waiting until eventually all those of royal blood (including your brother and father) were waiting outside of the doors. Some standing (only your father and Rei) while the others were sitting on the ground.

Your legs were laid down flat in for the of you with Nikos laying his head down on your thighs, playing with a bracelet on his arm. Shoto had his head resting atop yours while you had your head placed on his shoulder. Glasses still sat at the bridge of your nose, which did make things further away seem a little blurry, but nothing unmanageable.

Across from you sat Touya and Fuyumi with the female of the two having her glasses taken off and clutched in her hand. Most of her weight was being leaned on her older brother who was taking his fingers through her hair, staying silent as she slowly started to fall asleep from pure exhaustion.

Then there was Natsuo. None of you (besides your dad) really wanted to be there, but he definitely showed it the most. Sitting all by himself a meter or two away from Fuyumi and Touya, he held a disgusted look and was looking anywhere but at people. The walls, paintings, the rather ugly carpet, everywhere but at a human being.

"This is dumb," Natsuo mumbled under his breath, arms crossed as he rolled his eyes. "Can I go to bed now? Someone can just wake me up."

If Fuyumi were awake, she would've been quick to scold him. However, with the vibrations provided from the soft tune he was humming and the fingers he was running through her hair, Touya had lulled her to sleep within minutes. So instead of getting a scolding from her, Touya decided to be a little mature and step up to take her place.

"Dude, shut up," Touya sent a light glare Natsuo's way. A huff was all he got for a response. "You can go to sleep out here. Look at Fuyumi, she's sleeping perfectly fine."

The white haired male mumbled some curses under his breath, "Whatever."

Nikos shuffle on your lap a bit, turning over so he was now laying down on his other side. His eyes were droopy, and the way they longed for sleep was apparent. He was trying his hardest to stay awake, but all it took was a lullaby and he's be out like a light.

"Go to sleep," you whispered down to the boy, catching both Shoto's and Nikos's attention. Shoto was quick to go back to normal when he saw you looking down at your brother. A hand came up to the side of his face as you gently caressed it, "It's fine. You don't need to stay awake any longer if you don't want to."

"But I do!" he was quick to reassure you, but the slight slur of his speech pattern said all you needed it to.

A small smile made its way onto your lips, "Yeah, I'm sure you do."

Arguing would've gotten you nowhere. In fact, it probably would've woke Nikos up even more, so instead you decided to strike quietly. A soft hum. More specifically, the one your mother would hum when one of you refused to go to sleep, and it worked every single time.

Nikos smiled at the familiar sound, snuggling further into your lap. His eyes shut on their own, and his face rested into a calm one. You shut your eyes gently as well, taking your head off Shoto's shoulder and tilting it back so it was leaning against the wall.

A sudden absence of warmth made your eyes snap open, only for you to see Shoto getting up and walking off down one end of the hallway. Your brows furrowed a bit, but you still continued to hum the lullaby nonetheless. Within minutes, light snores were coming from Nikos as he peacefully slept on your lap.

Foot steps brought your attention to down the hall to where Shoto had once walked off in, only to see him coming back with some sort of sheets bundled up in his arms.

When he reached the kids (who I'd like to say were sitting some meters away from Rei and your father), he chucked one of them at Natsuo. He then walked over to Touya and Fuyumi, laying a blanket down over his older sister before walking back over to you where he laid a blanket over Nikos. A single one was left over which he balled up and stored beside himself.

"Well would you look at that," Touya spoke up, bringing yours and Shoto's, the only two people who were still awake besides your parents, attention to himself. He had a small grin, fingers still running through Fuyumi's hair as he looked down at your brother with slight amusement. "The runt is actually kind of cute when he's not ogling over Fuyumi."

Your brows furrowed as you sent a glare his way, "Don't call my brother a runt. If anyone's a runt, it's you."

Touya scrunched his nose, "Well then, the pest laying on your lap is kind of cute when he isn't ogling over my sister. You can't say shit, I didn't call the rodent a runt!"

"I hate you so much," you narrowed your eyes at him before turning away and flipping the older male off.

Touya let out a huff of air to show his amusement, his finger momentarily stopping at Fuyumi's scalp, "No you don't, and you and I both know you don't. I'd even go as far to say, out of all the Todoroki's to pick from, you love me the most. Well besides Shoto of course."

"Getting a bit cocky now, aren't we?" you hummed, looking back over at Touya with a raised brow.

Shoto simply watched this all, his hand coming back over to yours and intertwining your fingers with his during some duration of the small dispute between you and Touya. Interfering would mean the two of you would flame the fuck out of him, but if he just watched and let it happen, eventually the two of you would start joking about something.

Touya winked, "You would too if you were me. I mean, have you seen me?"

"People like you are the reason I double check to make sure all the doors in the room are locked before I go to sleep," you mumbled, looking down towards Nikos and patting some of his hair down so he didn't look as wild.

Shoto's brows furrowed, "But I'm the one who makes sure things are locked—"

"Not the time, Shoto."

"Right, sorry."

"It's alright."