Deku could get lost in the labyrinthine Castle of Chusei. In fact, he believed he was lost. After Lady Yaoyorozu stopped the execution, guards brought Deku, Ida, and the other townspeople to the baths. Uraraka was brought elsewhere; someone mentioned the King's Sage. Then every man got his own bath because the castle was that massive and bountiful. After Deku washed up and put on a thick cotton robe that kept him quite warm, especially with the castle's heating system provided by hired firebreathers, he wandered through the wide corridors, searching for the others.
Past the corner, metal clinked on the floor from someone's armour. Ida's armour, Deku thought. "Ida, I've been looking—"
Deku stopped short. The figure before him was very much not Tenya Ida, the awkward boy playing a role by wearing his big brother's armour handed down to him. Lady Yaoyorozu was far more refined. This armour was hers. And there was much less of it, too. Back in the gallows, Deku didn't see much of the lady knight except for her long black hair and confident posture, but now he could see her, and a lot of her. The steel covered and supported what it needed to for a woman, but the top of her chest and the entirety of her flat stomach were exposed, along with her thighs and biceps. Deku didn't think that even a barmaid showed this much skin. How is she not cold?
"Excuse me," Lady Yaoyorozu said, her voice polite even though Deku was beneath her status.
Deku bowed and pressed himself to the wall. "S-sorry!"
"Sorry?"
"I'm—I'm sorry for getting in your way."
The lady knight giggled. "We bumped into each other. That's all. I'll see you at the dining hall." With a little wave of her fingers, she walked away, her metallic footsteps lighter and less mechanical-sounding than Ida's.
"She's cute, isn't she?" another girl piped up. She looked a couple years older than Deku and Lady Yaoyorozu, her pale eyes glittering with wisdom that seemed out of place with her round face and flouncy, shiny hair. Uraraka walked a little behind her, dressed in a burgundy evening gown in the style of the Middle Court, the velvety fabric of her sleeves fluttering at her elbows. She looked away when Deku stared at her. I already knew my friend is pretty, but in Court fashion, she really looks like she belongs here. And since she was here, the light-haired girl must be the King's Sage. Deku thought the Sage would be older and dressed in a sorceress-like robe, not an evening gown.
Deku bowed to her. "She is, Your Grace, but I am beneath her."
The Sage waved her hand dismissively. Deku thought he saw spiral energy emerge from her fingertips, but perhaps it was a hallucination from seeing so many beautiful girls at once. "Call me Nejire. And forget about being 'beneath' people; that's distasteful. You can call her cute."
Heat rose up in Deku's cheeks, especially as Nejire came closer. They were close to the same height, but Deku found that he couldn't look her in the eye; her gaze was too discomfiting, almost eerie.
So he stared at her chest. "You all... you all look... boo—"
"Beautiful, right?" Nejire interrupted. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, letting it catch the firebreathers' lights and give off a metallic sheen. One of the firebreathers looked over at Deku but said nothing and carried on. "You can say it! It's true! But you might not want to compliment Lady Yaoyorozu too loudly—after all, she's engaged to the Prince of Chusei, whom she is sworn to protect."
Deku's heart sank, yet he couldn't really be disappointed, because such an arrangement was to be expected. It was odd, though, that one would be engaged so young. Traditionally, at 16, many people took on apprenticeships; the wealthier perhaps went into vocational school. However, in such pressing times, not many apprenticeships were available, and some vocational schools had even closed down due to being unable to maintain consistent heating. With nothing better to do, some teenagers just got married. Wedding feasts, at least, were entertaining.
"Cheer up, Deku," Nejire said, patting Deku's shoulder with an exuberance that hurt. "I'm sure you'll find some other lady knight to protect you."
Uraraka looked up at that moment, and Deku met her eyes. She mumbled, "I'm not a knight."
"And he isn't a prince, darling," Nejire replied. She appraised Deku with a judgemental expression. "You're not even dressed properly! Go find something to wear for supper."
She sounded like an older sister—like how the King's Sage ought to sound like. "Yes, ma'am!" Deku darted into the nearest room while the girls giggled. Fortunately, the room he happened upon contained a wardrobe. Unfortunately, said wardrobe must have been for the prince's outdoor wear, because all the options involved breeches and loose shirts with warm vests. Deku made do, selecting a dark green vest that matched his plain hair, and improvised a tie using one of the prince's scarves.
"Do you ride horses, too?" a quiet voice inquired.
Deku turned around. The heir to the kingdom was an enigmatic boy no older than Deku or Uraraka. He didn't make many, if any, public appearances; even with Lady Yaoyorozu to defend him, an assassination during a public event was too much of a liability, so the King hired young men known as swordcatchers to take the prince's place. It didn't take much imagination to figure out why they were called swordcatchers. Rumour had it that one of them was the prince's own brother.
With so much enigma around him, Deku didn't know what to expect from the young prince. Certainly, he hadn't expected someone who would speak to him like a friend, in a soft, polite voice asking a question, not forming a demand. Nor had he expected someone who seemed split down the middle: his right side was like ice, hair whiter than the Sage's, the left side like fire, a horrific scar around a bright turquoise eye.
Nor had he expected someone who would look so sad, when he was born with everything yet seemed like he had nothing.