The crowds of people in the stands began yelling.

"What are you doing?!" the princess met his eyes with her mouth open in shock.

"We need to get out of here!" he pushed her off of him and stood up, wobbling onto his right side.

More dark portals began appearing in the arena area. There were screams from the crowds above. Shoto looked up to find monsters appearing in the stands.

"EVERYONE EVACUATE!" the king ordered from the high stand.

"What are these creatures?!" the princess pulled out a claymore from her stomach. Her teeth were gritted.

"They're Nomus. Don't let them near you!" Shoto stumbled over himself.

The monsters walked out of portals, surrounding the two. There were seven in total. Each had their own gruesome look with soulless eyes that didn't seem to focus on anything in particular. They were all high in stature with their brains exposed to the air. Shoto let out a blast of fire towards one. Its left arm began burning, but it kept walking forward like nothing had happened. What is the meaning of this? The cage chain link covering above them worried the prince. We can't escape.

"Prince Shoto, you know what these creatures are, so what's the plan?" she held the claymore across her shoulders.

Shit, only one option. "I need you to get up into the air so I can freeze them all down. We'll make our way towards the gates and escape. I'll-"

"No." she said.

"No?" he looked to the princess. Her eyes were locked onto the monsters in front of them.

"If we destroy the gate in any way then these creatures will get out into the rest of the island. I won't allow that." the Nomus were moving closer towards them.

"You're suggesting…"

"You can still use your powers, right?" Princess Momo looked back at him. "So, don't worry about me. Turn these monsters into ash and I'll do the same."

Momo's whole body was trembling. The monsters, or Nomus as Prince Shoto called them, were so strange. They didn't seem to be a complete monster with the qualities of a human somehow appearing through their features. Their slow movements were as if they were trying to give them a chance, stalking towards the two in unison. The princess looked back towards the prince. He was wounded and fatigued from his duel with Stain. No matter how hard he tried, she could see his eyes go out of focus and his body slump over.

Her grip tightened onto the handle of the claymore. She began walking forward to the Nomus. They kept moving onward, as if she didn't exist.

Shoto watched as the princess moved forward. What is she doing? Princess Momo Yaoyorozu, as said by many, was never what she seemed. She bolted straight for them. His heart stopped beating as her body twisted upward and the claymore in her hand swung through the air. It seemed like it was weightless as it came around into contact with the Nomu's neck. The claymore sliced through the skin and bone, cutting the creature's head clean off. His eyes widened and mouth fell open. Holy shi-

Another Nomu nearby her, tall and stocky, grabbed onto the princess's arm. It threw her onto the ground with the snap of breaking bones sounding throughout her. Everything around Shoto melted away as his focus went onto her. Princess Momo's body was destroyed. He saw the impact her body made on the earth. No one could survive that amount of...

He ran. His right hand glided along the dirt ground, creating ice that encased the Nomu's bodies around her. Though, they broke out of it. Their arms cracking through the ice to be free. His ice swept over their bodies again and again. Shoto stopped to grab at the princess, to somehow drag her away. A Nomu cracked out of their ice. It grabbed onto the half of Shoto's shirt that was unburnt and with ease threw him back. The skin on his back scrapped along the ground, causing irritation and small cuts to form. His head turned up. He watched as one of their fists began coming down to her body. NO!

The little prince's dual colored hair rustled in the warm wind. It was summer, and he was eight at the time with his body turned to look out the golden carriage window. He sighed as a hand was placed onto his head. Shoto addressed his sister. She gave him a gentle smile. Her eyes were as bright as the red dress she wore. Though, in Shoto's opinion, it did not match anything else about her except that. It was disgustingly made and probably done with little regard for the princess.

"Shoto, are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. I-I'm fine, Fuyumi." he quickly turned away.

"Proper language, Shoto. Proper language." she scolded.

"Uh…" the little prince looked at the carriage's floor.

His sister gave a smile to him again, instead this one was more of understanding than anything else. "It's okay. Just make sure to keep your posture up." the princess brushed a hand through his hair.

"Okay." his voice was so small.

"We're going to be visiting the townspeople today, isn't that exciting, Shoto?"

"I don't know…"

"Aw, it's alright. Let's have fun today, okay?"

"Okay."

The princess stood. Not stood, more like shot up in an instant. Her arms were above her, keeping the Nomu's fist at bay. Shoto heard clicking sounds. Her body was twisted and in different unhuman angles, but with each click there was a fix in her body. Blood was running down her face. The prince froze over everything again, allowing her to escape the Nomus surrounding her. She didn't take that option though. There was a final click to her body. He saw long metal stakes begin falling out from her stomach. She grabbed onto one and drove it straight through the Nomu in front of her's body, cracking the ice there. She's okay...

"Keep them at bay."

Her eyes were so much darker than what he remembered from before. The princess stabbed another stake into the frozen Nomu then another and another. The creatures started cracking through the ice, but Shoto wouldn't allow them to. He froze them over again and again until the princess shoved the last stake into the sixth Nomu around her. She stumbled out of the ring of Nomus towards him. Momo fell to the ground with her head turned up towards him. Sweat was dripping from her body and bruises were beginning to fade away.

"Fire."

Bakugou walked into the castle's kitchen. He was starting to get annoyed by his crutch and debating whether or not to ditch it. Limping around would be better than this stupid thing. The kitchen was empty except for Jirou. She was sat on the counter, a diary in hand and a quill flying away on the paper. Jirou was biting onto her thumb as she wrote and kept making strange faces that could rival Bakugo's. He stumbled over next to her and looked down at what she was writing. It was unreadable to him.

"Jirou, your handwriting is ugly."

"You can't just come in here and insult me, Bakugo. Try again." she poked his face with an ear jack.

"Jirou, your handwriting is hideous."

"That's not any better!" she shut the diary and slapped it onto the counter.

"You're so worried that it's leaving wrinkles on your face." he flicked her forehead with two fingers.

"Yeah and you are too." Jirou pointed at him and frowned.

"She's not gonna up and leave without saying goodbye, Jirou."

The milkmaid sighed, turning to lean back onto the kitchen counter. Bakugo watched her look up towards the propped open window high above. The cold was beginning to settle in, but the small snowflakes falling through the opened window reminded the two of something very important. Winter was coming. It would not be kind or easy on the islanders, but exciting events would come along.

"The first snow, huh?" Bakugo propped himself against the edge of the counter.

"The Snow Festival will begin soon." she had a small, wishful smile on her face. "We'll get to drink hot chocolate under the stars and sing songs in the town square."

"Hopefully that Todoroki sucker sticks around long enough so Momo's here for the beginning. She would hate missing out on the starting ceremony."
"Yeah, hopefully."

"She might leave right after the duel if they're in a rush though. The prince has already been here for longer than he originally planned. He was supposed to just come and go, but he's been here for two days already."

Silence fell upon both of them. Jirou's arms covered her face, but Bakugo could see her lip quivering. He backed off and glanced towards the falling snow. I should close that window soon. The delicate flakes seemed to glow in the small amount of light sinking in from outside.

"I don't want to think about that."

"We might never see her again after today." he sighed without a usual scowl overtaking his face.

"I said that I do-"

"She was gonna go off and leave us eventually. It was destined to happ-"

Bakugo saw her hand coming up to slap him. He grasped onto her wrist.

"No it wasn't! She was meant to become our queen and make our country better! She was meant to be undefeatable in battle and untouchable by anyone! But that man," she tried twisting out of his grip to no success."that man came here and in the first moments of meeting her already saw her whole body. He saw her without her walls up or without...w-without the protections she always has. He came to take her away with no questions asked, but I want to ask those questions. I-I want! I want…" her hand stopped moving against his grip.

Bakugo released her hand as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. He ditched his crutch, allowing it to fall onto the ground. His arm went around the milkmaid to pull her into a stiff hug. He didn't lean in or give any sort of warmth, but it was the best he could muster up. God, the things you do to us.

"You're mean!" the little girl with purple hair yelled.

"Well, you didn't exactly come here to be nice to me either. I'm working, get out, Jirou." the blonde boy scowled at her, holding a bucket of water.

The two were in the horse stables. Brushes, halters, saddles, ropes, and all sorts of horse care objects were organized there. Bakugo, a young boy at the age of 9, was trying to clean. Jirou, aged 8, was swinging her legs as she sat on a wooden crate nearby him. It was summertime in the Yaoyorozu Kingdom. Rain poured outside of the stables as the two conversed with each other. The little boy had dirt on his face and mud on his shirt, though he couldn't care much about it. The little girl's plain dress was a telling of her status in the world.

"Momo is busy training and I'm bored. The head maid shooed me out of the kitchen after I caught some of the herbs on fire." she sighed.

"Go be bored somewhere else. We can't do anything because it's raining." he placed the bucket onto the ground.

"We should go out into the forest. We could find something cool. Maybe a dragon." Jirou hopped off of the crate.

"Dragons don't exist, dummy."

"They do too!" she hopped up and down.

"Do not!"

"How do you know if they don't exist?" the little girl put her hands on her hips.

"Because no one's ever seen one before and all the people who do are crazy."

"That's not true. Sero said he saw one!"

"Well, Sero's an idiot. We can't trust him."

"I trust him."

"That's because you're an idiot too." he rolled his eyes.

"I am not!" she hopped towards him.

"Am too."

The little girl lost her footing and slipped on a patch of mud on the stable floor. Bakugo caught her arm. He pulled her up with a shake of his head. She stood still, watching as the boy shut the door of the stable and turned to her. The rain outside grew heavier, causing a stuffy feeling in the stables.

"Thanks." she said, brushing off the dirt from her dress sleeve.

"Ugh. Let's go." he groaned, finally giving in.

"Really?" Jirou turned her head to him. Bakugo was walking towards the rain outside.

"Yeah. I didn't want to stay dry all day anyway."

"Yay!"

"The rain feels so nice!"

"Literally only you and Momo like it. I don't know why you like all the water. It's disgusting."

"But it's beautiful, isn't it?!"

Bakugo looked up towards the sky. He had to admit that the raindrops on the tree leaves were pretty. It was dark and murky, but every little drop held a bit of light with it. He spotted Jirou opening her mouth to catch one. She smiled when she did. He shook his head disapprovingly.

"You don't know where that water's been."

"Yeah I do! It's been in the sky." Jirou pointed up.

"Maybe we should go back. We could get sick out here."

"Bakugo, come on! We al-"

He slapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her behind a tree. Jirou struggled against his grip, but then followed his line of sight. A bit away from them was a figure. They could barely hear the figure's moans and groans. Bakugo's senses were sharper with himself always on edge. He lowered his hand from her mouth.

"Jirou, we're gonna sneak away from here. We need to avoid that person." he hissed.

"Okay." she didn't retaliate.

Bakugo grabbed onto her wrist. They turned to walk into the direction towards the castle. Jirou, the poor girl, was shaking. He tugged her slightly and they were on their way. Until they heard the groaning grow louder. Bakugo looked behind them and the sight he saw would be forever ingrained in his memory.

The figure turned out to be some sort of man. Bindings covered his body and left only his mouth open. With a single strange noise, his teeth became blades. They jutted out into the ground and the figure rose high into the air. Bakugo kept a slow pace with Jirou at his side. The rain was beginning to pour down harder and faster than before. Snap! His head turned to the sound at his feet. He had stepped on a stick. Oh fu-

Blades sliced through the air, coming straight towards the two. Bakugo pulled Jirou in front of him. She barely got grazed with the sharp edge on her cheek. The groaning from the man grew even louder, if that was possible, and blades came in all directions. In those moments, Bakugo saw his short life flash before him. He held onto Jirou's wrist and knew of only one thing he could do. We'll both heal from our Yaoyorozu blood. He pushed her in front of him.

"Run, Jirou!"

"Bakugo?!"

Every blade came straight towards him. The first one that cut his flesh burned. The speed it came into his skin felt like a harsh slap that increasingly got worse and worse. Blades came to cut the skin at his shoulders and sliced tuffs of his hair off his head. The burning remained and didn't subside. I'm not healing? I-I'm not… I'M NOT HEALING! I'M GONNA DIE.

"MOVE!"

An arm came around his waist. It threw him to a nearby tree's trunk. The arm was strong, sure, and did not fail to reassure the stable boy. Bakugo felt the impact with the trunk against his whole body. When he opened his eyes, the sight he saw was sickening. King Mareo stood there. The king's arms were around Jirou as blades sunk into his back. A strong stench of blood sliced through the rain.

"Bakugo, take Jirou and run." King Mareo's voice was strained. Bakugo had never heard the king sound so weak before.

The cuts on his body still burned. He fought through the pain as he grabbed Jirou's arm and began running with her in tow. He took one last look at the king. His back was turned to the two. The cuts were already beginning to heal as a sword was pulled from his body. Bakugo felt his heart beating back and forth in his chest. It pounded and created a ringing in his ears that wouldn't go away. I'm not a Yaoyorozu.

"Hey."

Bakugo's voice was strangely soft. It broke through Jirou's thoughts and touched her soul. He wasn't usually soft. Always tough and smug and hard when it came to things. Those moments he were, it only lasted briefly before his same scowl returned. Jirou wiped her tears with her dress sleeves. She sniffled as she looked up at him.

"What?"

"Do you wa-"

A woman's scream sounded from outside the castle's kitchen door. Bakugo's head sharply turned towards there. Someone began pounding on it, desperate for it to unlock. Jirou and Bakugo bolted. Jirou got there first with Bakugo hobbling behind her. She opened the door to one of the maids. Her face was red from running and her breath was quick.

"We have to run, th-th-there's strange things in the castle and they escaped! The guards are dead! There's blood. Blood, so mu-"

Jirou watched the woman's eyes roll upward. The light left her as her body fell forward onto the milkmaid. Jirou grasped her into her arms. The maid was so young, younger than Jirou. She looked at her back. A small throwing knife was between her shoulder blades. Blood began to run down from the wound.

"Jirou, get back!"

Bakugo's arm came to tug her back into the kitchen, but that wasn't before she could see it. A woman smiling at the end of the hall with blades in her hands. There were two twin buns on the sides of her heads and blood painting her face. Jirou felt everything drain from her when she spotted the thing behind the woman. It was the strange thing that the maid was trying to describe. Its eyes were blank, looking forward without purpose. Its large purple body was adorned with scars. It wasn't human. It was a monster.

Prince Shoto swept his left side's flames across the Nomus. The ice melted away, leaving their bodies exposed to the fire. They all began to burn without a care. Their bodies moved to the princess. She was on the ground with an arm outstretched towards him. The prince crawled forward towards her as the Nomus burned. The metal stakes that the princess has put into the Nomu bodies began to melt. The metal was unlike anything the prince had ever seen. It was shiny, almost like silver, but too perfected to be such.

He grabbed onto her arm, helping her to move further from the burning Nomus. They began to turn into ash. The strange metal melted, keeping their bodies in place. Once the last one was burnt to a crisp, he felt the wound on his left side. It was sufficiently cauterized. The princess stumbled as she began to stand. Shoto allowed her to use his shoulder to steady herself.

"There's one more thing to do." she rasped.

"What is it?" he had his arms out to catch her if need be.

Her hand went to grab the hilt of Iida's sword attached to his hip. She unsheathed it slightly as her body leaned onto his right shoulder. There was sweat dripped down her face and her breathing was heavy. Her eyes kept closing then jerked open from her forcing herself to stay conscious. Neither Shoto or the princess were in any condition to do anything else. The prince's left side was still throbbing from the wound and exhaustion was beginning to get the best of him.

"Our duel." the princess breathed out.

They stood there, so close after the words left her mouth. Her determination to execute an order was admirable, but also plain stupid. She let go of the sword. The princess took in a deep breath and allowed herself to stand tall in front of him. It was still snowing. The white flakes fell to coat the arena's floor with a light layer of itself. Shoto couldn't feel it anymore, but it was cold. Their breath made small clouds as they both exhaled. A single flake fell between them.

"Do you still wish to duel me for my hand?" the princess pulled a long sword from her stomach. "Will you accept, Prince Shoto?"

He hesitated. God, he hesitated. Shoto's right hand hovered over Iida's sword, but refused to move further. His left hand was uncontrollable as it rose to brush against the princess' cheek. She's okay? She grabbed onto his hand with a slight tilt to her head. She blinked at him, curious.

"Prince Shoto?"

"You've recently become of age and I'm quite surprised that your father hasn't set you up with anyone."

"Good. Let's have it stay that way."

Prince Shoto stood in a royal courtyard with Iida at his side. A bow was in his hands with a quiver slung over his left shoulder. It was a warm summer's day. The sun beat down overhead onto the two. Shoto notched an arrow into the bow and aimed towards the target on the other side of the courtyard. He inhaled.

"He may be waiting for the Yaoyorozu princess to come of age. Their kingdom was never too keen on marriage proposals and it's known that they will accept offers for their daughter once she is of age."

Shoto exhaled, releasing the arrow towards the target. It hit slightly off of the center onto the white. He frowned and grabbed for another arrow.

"I don't want to marry a barbarian."

"They aren't barbarians, Shoto. They're just different."

"They're uncivilized people. It'd be insulting if my father ever suggested me to marry one." the prince notched another arrow and took aim.

"They're true warriors at heart and respectable people."

"They're ruthless and unhonorable killers, Iida."

"Just watch, Shoto. Someday you're going to meet a Yaoyorozu who's going to prove you wrong."

"I doubt such."

Iida was right. Shoto's hand was barely touching the princess', but her skin was so soft. There wasn't a single scar on her body and blemishes couldn't be found. Her eyes were bright with long eyelashes that would flutter whenever she was fazed. Her lips were chapped from a whole life without care but he could spot the lushness of them. The princess stood tall, even after having every bone in her body broken. Dirt and blood was running down her face, but she was so effortlessly perfect. Shoto could have died right there and he wouldn't have had single regret in his life.

He was so confused. He had always been taught that the Yaoyorozu people were monsters compared to the Todoroki, but they were all the same. Maybe even better than his people. They were so strong and unfazed whenever it came to injury while he stood there. He stood there with a cauterized wound and bruises covering his body. His right eye was slightly closed from the throbbing cut on his cheek. He looked pathetic next to her.

"Prince Shoto, do you accept?"

Shoto, age 19, stood with his arms out as a blonde man fussed over the buttons on his dress shirt. The man had the strangest twinkle in his eye and was about ten years older than Shoto. He had a measuring tape around his neck with shirt sleeves that were rolled up. The room they were in was covered from floor to ceiling with sketches. Spools of thread and rolls of fabric were neatly organized on tables and on shelves. The prince sighed. He had spent the past two hours in that room already. It was midday.

"Aoyama, you are my tailor and I appreciate your dedication, but are you done yet?"

"Tsk! There, right there! That is the reason why the nobles find you so delusional and irresponsible. Be patient, my prince." Aoyama waved a finger at him.

"You sound like Fuyumi." Shoto frowned.

"Of course I do! Princess Fuyumi and I find your lack of proper language absolutely diabolical. You came of age last year and not a single kingdom offered their princess' hand for marriage. You know why they didn't, my prince. You may be a gentleman in every right, but your lack of proper language and mannerisms disgusts any woman within five meters of you." the tailor scolded as he turned to grab something from a desk.

"I'm not interested in marriage right now. I feel like my life has just begun."

"Well, you should be if you ever wish to be king, my prince. Marriage is not to be out of love unless you are one of the common folk like me. Your marriage will be one for status. There will be a trade of wealth and the insurance for an heir. Your thinking is quite surface level and you must think beyond such." he snatched a scissor and made his way back over to the prince.

"Why can't Natsuo be king instead? He exists."

"You know the answer to that. By god, do not make me say it aloud. You are testing me, Prince Shoto!" Aoyama waved his scissors in the air.

"I don't want to be married. Marriage sounds horrible, especially seeing what it did to my parents." he lowered his arms and ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't you forget that I was once married, my prince? Not all marriages were as horrible as the king and queen's."

"But your marriage wasn't really a marriage. It was a partnership with someone that you loved."

"It was a marriage. We didn't have the papers or the priest, but in every other way it was."

"You're not very convincing, Aoyama."

"My god, Shoto! Watch, someday you will meet some person who has all the stars in their eyes and holds all the planets in their hands. They will mystify you, confuse you, and you will be so awestruck that you won't know what to do with yourself."

Many people in Shoto's life had always been right. If only he listened more when they scolded or when they praised him, he would probably have been prepared for that moment. That moment when Princess Momo held out her hand to him. He met her eyes. Aoyama was right. All the stars were there, perfectly imperfect as they aligned together. Her hand was empty, but it was so inviting. Shoto didn't know what to do with himself.

"Prince Shoto?"

He placed his hand onto her own.

"Kaminari, how do you know if you love someone?"

Prince Shoto, age 20, lied on the grass. It was summer in the Todoroki Kingdom and the trees were lush with their green leaves overhead. Denki Kaminari, a violinist who regularly went to the Todoroki Palace, stood next to the prince with a violin in hand. The two were in the royal gardens. It was a small area with all types of flowers and herbs in soil boxes. The prince lied with his eyes closed. The sun touched his skin lightly as the violinist sighed.

"How would I know? I've never been in love, Prince Shoto."

"But you've gone out of these castle walls more than me. You've met more people. I've never been able to do that." he sighed.

"Well, from what my parents say and people who I know have been in love say, you know you're in love with someone when it happens. In that moment, you'll just know."

"That doesn't make sense. How do you know something that you already don't know?"

"I'm not sure, my prince." Kaminari raised his bow to the strings of his violin. He let it glide to begin the song. "My mother always said that we all eventually find the one we're meant to be with. Sometimes it may be a friend or a lover, even an animal in some cases, but we always find them."

"I accept your offer."

A/N:Whoop. This chapter took a while to write then to edit, then to add some more, then to cut, then to edit again. It's been a long two weeks, but I hope you guys are able to enjoyed this chapter. It has plenty of flashbacks to the characters' pasts and some set up for cool fights. It's been a long process of being happy then unhappy with this chapter. I had most of it done by Wednesday, but then I decided to go back and add stuff.

I hope you guys enjoyed the extra long chapter because you deserve it. I got a couple people who commented about waiting for this chapter last week and I feel bad about that. You're all wonderfully dedicated readers and I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

So, this chapter. Lots of stuff going on and new things being introduced. Ask all the questions you want to honestly. Bakugo was revealed to not be a Yaoyorozu. I kind of wanted to hold back on that card until the end game, but it's best that you guys are able to get confirmation on it because you already know he didn't heal from his wounds.

Thank you, as always for reading this chapter of Win Her Favor! Come back next Saturday for a new chapter. Also, we gots set up for the wedding arccccc