Ethereal ◆ Shoto Todoroki x Reader

9 | The Past

You have to dig deeper, into the past and future.

You must find Shoto and tell him everything.

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You grab the page from the secret drawer and head to Shoto's room, telling Takahashi to let you go alone.

Your breath is shallow, and you can't help but be nervous.

You've never told anyone the story of your childhood. If Shoto wanted, he could use the information to dethrone your father.

The risk is exhilarating. It's the most exciting thing you've experienced in a long long time.

You knock on his door, your heart racing. 

"Come in, princess," you hear him say.

You enter. "How'd you know it was me?" You ask.

"You always use the same knock," he smiles.

That's the first time I've seen him smile.

Your heart feels warm, like his smile is all it takes to light a fire.

"Oh, yes," you sit down beside him, "I found something."

You smooth out the paper and hand it to him. You watch his eyes as they scan the lines.

"Quirk marriage," Shoto says, "that's most definitely what this is."

"But what I don't get," you start to explain, "is why my father agreed to this. No offense, but the Todorokis are our kingdom's rivals. If we did have a kid, it would be a Todoroki. How would that benefit my kingdom? My father's reign?"

"I don't understand," you sigh.

Shoto looks confused also. 

"Wait," you say, "I actually have a confession to make. But first-" you grab his hands and look him in his bi-colored eyes- "I want you to know that I trust you. I've never told anyone else this before."

You take a deep breath.

"When I was three years old, King Mizuki bought me from my real parents because of my quirk's potential. I'm not a real royal, Shoto."

He takes his hands from yours and nods. "I understand. Continue."

You smile. "As I said, King Mizuki, who I now call Father, bought me from my biological parents. When I turned ten, he started the experiments. He brought me to one of the poorest villages, and told me to use my quirk."

This is the hard part.

"I killed them all. Everybody in that village was instantly drained of all their energy, and only Hiro managed to stop me. Since then, I've grown closer to him, and Hiro is more family than anyone else in this world. I've been trained to be a good queen all my life, following every single order, scared he would banish me. I deserve to be banished. I'm a fake royal, and I killed all of those people. I don't deserve to live in such a great kingdom, and things have just gotten so confusing-"

You realize you're ranting and stop. 

"Sorry. I've just never had anyone to talk to about this stuff," you apologize to a shocked Shoto.

He pats you on the back. "I think I understand," he starts, "it sounds like manipulation."

"Manipulation?"

"King Mizuki probably knows how you feel about everything, and he also knows you could tell anyone and get him dethroned. He made a ten year old child kill a whole village. Sounds like a good reason for treason to me."

He's right.

"A good queen knows when to lie, my darling."

"A good queen knows how to keep a secret."

"A good queen knows what's good for her kingdom."

"A good queen wouldn't put her people in danger, now, would she?"

All those years. All of the 'advice' he gave you was a tool. A tool so he could mold your mind into what he wanted.

So you became a 'good queen': someone who followed his orders, no questions asked.

And the worst part is, it worked.

Anger. That's all you feel. 

You clench your fists, not sure what to do with your new-found rage.

Shoto must've noticed your scrunched up face.

"Come," he stands, "let's go relieve some stress."

He leads you to a field, part of the ground dirt.

"You might want to change clothes." He nods to a guard and he hands you a bag.

You go inside a bathroom and open the bag.

Inside is a tunic and pants, similar to what a commoner would wear.

You put it on, trusting Shoto.

When you come back outside, Shoto is taking off his shirt, revealing a very...

...toned body.

You cover your eyes and blush. "P-prince! What are you doing?"

He enters the dirt circle and does the flamingo pose. 

"Yoga," he softly says, closing his eyes.

You join him, standing beside him and doing the same pose.

Suddenly he starts punching the air, startling you.

"I do this," he says, "when I'm angry, I thought it might work for you too," he says, still punching.

He does some weird pose next, holding one leg up, with his arms over his head.

You laugh but copy him anyway.

And you have to admit, he looks hot.

Shirtless and showing off his muscles, and a concentrated look on his face? Not to mention how sweaty he looks.

You blush and focus on punching the air.

And to your surprise, it seems to be working.

You're still slightly angry, but Shoto doesn't want you to be. He even showed you his technique. 

You laugh again, making Shoto look at you.

He looks confused at first but then smiles. "I knew it would work."

You smile back.

Little does he know, it's not the punching that improved your mood.

Was it his glistening abs or his sweet smile?

Maybe a bit of both.