"Shoto, I'm glad you're here. Come, walk with me." King Enji walked away from Shoto and out of the royal armory.

The prince followed with a scowl. "I already know what you're going to discuss, so do not bother."

"You do? That's good. I knew Midoriya wouldn't keep such information from you." he had a small smile on his face. "Shoto, you're well past the age of adulthood."

"I am clearly aware, father." the two walked into the surrounding forest.

The area around them was illuminated from King Enji's flames. However, nothing caught on fire. His flames would only lightly brush against the shrubs and trees as he walked. Shoto hadn't quite mastered his powers to where he could not harm others from it. He didn't quite care though, for he never used his fire powers.

"You will be departing for the Yaoyorozu Kingdom in a day's time. I do not want to allow them an ounce of relief. You may prepare however you wish and take whoever you wish to the kingdom. You will defeat this princess then return with her, make her your queen, and relations between our kingdoms will prosper." the king said everything as if it had already been done.

"Father, I do not wish to make a barbarian my bride." the cold crisp air on Shoto's right side felt strange as he walked with his father on his left.

"You do not have to love her. Simply, you marry her and have our kingdoms at peace for a short while. Enforce our dominance over their tiny kingdom and leave it at that."

"Would it not be unwise to wed a royal from a tiny kingdom? It would make our kingdom seem incompetent." Shoto searched for a convincing notion.
"Ah, they are tiny, but strong. Their islands make it hard to take over and they have a ruthless way of fighting that most organized and civilized people in our kingdom cannot comprehend." his father stopped and turned to Shoto. "That is why we will begin to control them." the king clenched his fist. "We will take their kingdom from the inside out and make it unrecognizable to the future generations. We will erase them." he uncletched his fist.

"Erase them? Their culture, languages, practices, religions?" the prince shook his head. "We could not erase a people. It'd be impossible."

"Todorokis are meant to do the impossible, Shoto." the king turned away and began to walk again. "You know Midoriya well, correct?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you ever wonder why no one else in the kingdom has green hair like him?"

"Again, yes. I do most certainly."

"That is because I erased his people."

Prince Shoto stopped in his tracks. He looked up at his father in confusion. He did what I deemed impossible. The king stopped as well and looked at his son in an unsettledly tender way.

"Midoriya is the last of the Izuku people. I took pity upon him and allowed him to be raised in the castle. I exterminated them years ago and erased all that was left of them. He is an endling."

The prince couldn't help but stare. He knew of his father's brutality and unforgivingness. But this. Why would the king tell him something like that? Did he want to disprove Shoto's assumption of the impossible? Shoto's mouth closed and opened repeatedly, not knowing what to say.

"So, it is possible to erase a people. You can keep the princess alive if you find her bearable. Everyone else though should be the erased. The Yaoyorozu people have a very special ability to them. You know what it is, don't you?" King Enji stroked his beard.

"Their bodily ability to heal their own injuries. That's what made them dangerous when grandfather was expanding the kingdom. However, they couldn't beat his flames. Their healing had a limit."

"Exactly, my son. Your grandfather expanded this kingdom and controlled the Yaoyorozu people. Our people have the ability to withstand any temperature. We will take this dream a step forward and complete our domination." he smiled. "Tomorrow will be a long day of planning, so you may go now. It is quite late." the king stood tall, allowing Shoto to leave.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

"I do not wish to erase a people or to join in on your plans." he glared up.

"Your wishes do not matter. I am your king and you are to obey. Now leave before I change my mind and send you off somewhere like with your brother." the king waved him away.

"I-"

"Leave, Shoto."

The prince turned away from the king and began to walk. He felt the heat around him leave as he got closer back to the royal armory. The king had a hold on him. He could choose to rebel, to run away, or to obey. Shoto's options were in a small amount. If he rebelled, his father would have him sent to the same place his mother and brother are or he would be killed if he was feeling a bit nice. If he ran away, it'd be the same as rebelling. He would taste freedom from his duties as prince for only a moment before they would find him. To obey meant that Shoto would go on. He would fight this princess and have the knowledge of his father's devious plans to himself as they were executed.

The prince would have to marry a barbarian. A wild woman who would not listen to him or anyone around her. He hasn't even met her and he feels so trapped. Shoto already knew that he would never get the chance to choose who he married like so many others did, but he wasn't expecting to marry Princess Momo. Her name holds shame, regret, and unhappiness with it. Rumors of her being born out of wedlock to a king's mistress circulated the kingdom for a long time since her birth. People still question her legitimacy to the throne. Many people would be glad if she were to marry him since her sister would go on to become queen and she would go on to stay with Shoto.

A guard there held onto the reins of his mare. Shoto took the reins and mounted, ready to leave. That was before he caught a glimpse of his father. The king held his head high with a frown on his face as if he knew what Shoto was thinking. The prince took one last glimpse at the man then rode off. The wind through his hair once again, he didn't want to think about his future. In the wind, he felt free. He felt who he was as a human and not a prince or a Todoroki. He felt it all.

His room was grim, dark when he returned. The door had been left open since Midoriya and him left it. Shoto took a step in there to find a man sitting in his chair. Glasses on his face with his knight armor still on from a long day at patrolling. He back leaned against the chair and his arms crossed as his eyes were closed. His brow furrowed as if in deep thought. He was frustrated.

"Iida, what are you doing here? I thought you had the midnight patrol to get to."

He opened his eyes. "Your highness, Midoriya has already told me of the situation." the knight stood, then kneeled at his prince's feet. "I am simply here to reassure you that I will always be by your side in whatever decisions you are to make before I go out to my patrol. Please do not hesitate if you ever need a friend." Iida stood once again and put out a hand to the prince.
"Iida, you do not have to kneel for me. We are equals." Shoto shook his hand, but shook his head at the same time.

"Ah, sire. If we were equals then you should be kneeling to me as well." he flashed a smile to him.

"Your formality is sickening, Iida."

"That's why I'm a knight and you're not."

"True. Good luck on your patrol."

"Thank you, your highness. I must go, but please do not hesitate to call me."

"I won't. Now go."

Iida left the room, leaving Shoto to feel a little lighter. He had people on his side that he could trust. Midoriya and Iida were only a few that Shoto would gladly give his life for. He grew up with the two. Midoriya being raised in the palace for reasons that were just revealed to the prince on that night. Iida being raised in the palace due to this father's rank as Captain of the Royal Guard. The three of them were as different as ever, but came together with similar goals and ideals in mind.

Shoto changed out of his clothes into new ones and lied down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, finding himself unable to sleep. My father is sending me to my grave.

Momo's entrance into the high stand brought cheers among the crowd. It was the first battle of the day and excitement ran its course through the people. The Yaoyorozu people were once bloodthirsty and ruthless to earn their barbarian name. Once the Todoroki Kingdom began to expand to their borders though, it all changed. Thinking about the Todoroki Kingdom sent a wave of resentment to Momo's emotions that tensed her body.

The princess only battled the very last man standing. Throughout the day she would battle particularly powerful men or settle on the high stand with her family and guards. At the end of the day, the last man standing would battle her. This system would weed out the hopeless ones who were too weak to hold a flame to the princess and those who were distasteful in personality.

Momo watched the men clash in the cage. The first battle of the day was always first come first serve. A man with a strange slightly curved sword on his back. He wore a red scarf and bandages on his arms. His hair was in a frenzy with no sense of direction. His looks intrigued Momo and she was curious as to see what he would do. The man was clearly not from the Yaoyorozu Kingdom from his weapon and looks. It unnerved Momo with the weight of her kingdom on her shoulders. He might be one of those who lasts.

Shoto awoke before the sun rose. He had spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed. He couldn't settle. The prince rose to change out of his clothes. He took a glimpse in the mirror to look himself over. His hair was a mess and slight bits of dirt still remained on his face. He looked out the glass doors to his balcony. Dawn won't come anytime soon. Maybe I could go to the royal hot springs? Shoto grabbed his sword that lied next to his bed and went out the door. He had only a white blouse and black pants on. None of his usual royal attire adorned his body as he tied his sword around his waist. Only the crest of the Todoroki royal family on the sword's sheath could indicate his status.

The prince made his way to the royal hot springs underneath the palace. They had been discovered years ago, just like the royal armory and were for the personal use of royal residents. He went down a long staircase to find a large wooden door. The prince opened it to feel the rush of hot air. He closed the door behind him to enjoy the comfort. The hot springs were his favorite place in the palace. No one was there except him and it was wonderful.

Shoto settled in one of the pools of water and let his muscles untense from the day before. His rush a hand through his hair to wet it. He sighed. The weight of his kingdom was on his shoulders and no matter how hard he tried to shake it off, it remained. Shoto let his head roll back to look up at the cavern ceiling.

He heard the door of the hot springs open. Heavy, sure footsteps began making their way to him. He knew of only one person with as sure of footsteps. Iida took a seat with his legs crossed near Todoroki at the edge of the water pool. He didn't have any of his armor on anymore and looked bare with only regular clothes on.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"How'd you find me here?" the prince closed his eyes and kept his head to the ceiling.

"After my shift, I went to your room, but didn't find you there. This is your favorite place in the palace, so I figured you'd be here instead."

"Care to join me?" Shoto opened his eyes and turned his deadpan face to the knight.

"I'd rather not. Seems like you're really enjoying being by yourself in there." Iida chuckled, shooting a smile to the prince.

"You're disgusting." Shoto frowned at him.

"Your highness, you are not one to engage with women often, so I only assumed-"

"Don't come down here and discuss women with me when you haven't even found your own. You're how old now? 23 or 24? Go stick yourself in a brothel, Iida." the prince groaned at his teasing.

"Hey, I'm only a year older than you! Why don't you figure out women before you have to commit entirely to one for the rest of your life? Don't stick it in crazy, my friend."

"Who said I had to commit?" he rolled his eyes at the knight.

"Shoto…"

"I'm kidding, Iida."

"Good. When you marry a woman, you should keep your eyes on her and only her. She is your partner for the rest of your life and-"

"Stop lecturing. It's not like I'm going to marry her out of love, so it doesn't count." Shoto made a waving away motion towards Iida.

"Arranged marriages are still built upon trust, my prince."

"You're only saying that because your parents, your brother and my sister, my parents, you yourself went through arranged marriages. The girl you're marrying is across the country right now and though you care about your future bride, I do not care about mine. Mine's not even arranged, I could die during our duel and die a single man."

"And a virgin."

"Silence yourself, Iida." the prince shot a glare at him.

"You could have any woman in the kingdom, yet here we are." he sighed and shrugged at Shoto.

"Dying a virgin would be better than enduring this current conversation."

Iida laughed at his comment. He threw his head back and let himself laugh on the ground as Shoto simply sighed. The prince gave a rare half smile at the knight and left him at that. What a precious little world we live in….

A/N: Cover art by azureflamearts on Tumblr

Link to original work: post/167302883175/kamijirou-todomomo-fantasy-au-please-dont