Princess and the Pea
"Have you made a decision, dear?"
Ochako heard the voice before she could see who it was coming from. The light eventually dissipated to reveal a grand ballroom with tall pillars propping up a glittering, domed ceiling. And even with the half-circle formation of young men, around her age, standing in wait, the room was big enough to feel cold and echoey from the torrential rain outside.
"Dear? Who will you choose?" The woman's voice continued to prod at her right. "… Ahem!"
"Oh!" She was the 'dear'. Ochako sat up straighter in what seemed to be a bejeweled chair at the end of a long, red carpet. "Ummmm. Yes? What's happening?"
The older woman, robed in a floor-length gown of blue velvet sighed deeply with more irritation than disappointment. It was clearly meant to instill deep shame. "I apologize for my daughter's insolence. I assure you, she will make a wonderful bride." She addressed the group of men who were all nodding along amusedly.
Whoa, what?
This tightly wound lady was definitely not her mother and Ochako was 100% certain she was absolutely nowhere near becoming someone's wife.
"B-bride?" She cried out once she sufficiently coughed through the shock.
"That's right. Now choose the prince with whom you will unite our kingdoms."
The pieces of this new realm were slowly coming together in Ochako's mind. Here, in this palace, she was a princess. Even if it weren't for the lavish room and her position in it, the clothes may have eventually given it away. With a stringed corset that cinched at her waist atop a teal dress that draped heavily in layers over her hips and a black cape flowing over her shoulders, it was a stark contrast to the peasant bonnets and aprons others were donning.
Yes. In this world, she was a princess who was expected to pick a random prince to marry and combine powers with.
"No way! I'm not getting married!" She squeaked out, gripping the armrest as if to throw it as a distraction if needed. "Especially not to anyone here!"
"Well, then." The queen stared pointedly at Ochako. "Who would you like?"
Bakugo.
That was the name that popped in her head against her will. She shook it out of her brain and desperately tried to forget the fact that just a few moments before, she was this close to admitting she might, possibly, just maybe… love him.
"N-no one! I don't want to marry anyone!"
"That's not up to you." The woman gave Ochako a stern look that made her shrink involuntarily. "This behavior is not befitting of a princess. You must-"
"Oi! Let me in!"
A loud pounding at the door simultaneously interrupted the Queen and brought on an impossibly large smile to her subject of beration.
There could only be one person who would so unceremoniously bang on a castle door.
"Stop! A princess does not run!"
Ochako ignored the chastisement and sprinted to the entryway to fling open the double doors and reveal the intruder.
"Bakugo!" She grinned and drank in the sight of him scowling at the rain relentlessly pelting his ill-prepared body and making his teeth chatter. The way his shirt had turned transparent reminded her of the unfortunate circumstances in which they met last time. It was a good thing they found each other so quickly and painlessly this time.
"So you got your voice back, huh?" He grunted out with a raise of his eyebrow.
"Yep! But it happe-"
"Fan-fucking-tastic. Now, LET ME IN ALREADY!"
"Oh, right!" Ochako sheepishly stepped aside to let him in, jumping slightly at the crack of lightning illuminating Bakugo's frame as he stomped in and brought a puddle with him. His shoes squelched with every step and everyone gasped as they watched the newcomer wring out his shirt without any regard for the sanctity of the royal establishment.
"Guards! See that this vagrant is tossed out immediately!" A wiry, high-strung man screeched with the curt affirmation of the Queen, who had yet to leave her esteemed seat.
"Wait, no!" Ochako stepped in front of Bakugo with her arms outstretched in an awfully familiar stance. Did every one of these situations really have to be so dramatic?
"Your highness! You can't possibly expect us to house such a…"
"Such a what?" Bakugo demanded with a fierce glare. "I fucking dare you to say it to my face."
"You will do no such thing! And you won't throw him out either!" Ochako locked eyes with the Queen. "Because I choose him!"
"What? Choose me for what?" Bakugo asked, clearly lost and not happy about it.
"For my husband." Ochako gulped and didn't dare turn around to answer what must be a million questions running through his head.
"Your WHAT?z/"
Or maybe just one.
"And as the future King, you can't kick him out."
It was sound logic, or so she reasoned. Ochako started to question it once her supposed 'mother' stood with her eyes narrowed into slits, examining the odd pair. "You cannot marry just anyone. We've hand-selected princes from surrounding, suitable, kingdoms to rule by your side."
"Ya talking about those weakass motherfuckers who couldn't even pull up their own socks with those toothpick arms?" Bakugo said unimpressed, making the crowd of eligible bachelors sputter indignantly.
"Are you implying you would be a more worthy match?"
"I'm saying they ain't shit. Uraraka could kick all of their asses with her hands tied behind her back. So fuck off with all your elitist bullshit."
Ochako didn't know if she was quite ready to say out loud that she loved him, but god did she like him. She liked him a lot.
She also needed him to shut up so he wouldn't be exiled to the next continent over.
"It's him or no one." She insisted, hoping with all her might that he'd play along just long enough to get a favorable answer.
After a painfully long moment, the Queen waved away the other suitors with a flick of her wrist and gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Prepare the Green Room for our guest." She directed one of the servants and then addressed Ochako's challenge. "We will see whether your judgement is sound by tomorrow morning."
Though she didn't quite know what that meant, Ochako was glad to know they had somewhat of a chance. At the very least, they had time together to figure out their next move in escaping this place.
"What'd you do to get us to this place?" Bakugo asked as they were led down one of the many-doored hallways to what they assumed was the aforementioned 'Green Room'. She was glad he didn't push for answers on the whole 'marrying her' thing, seeing as she didn't have any.
"I don't know." Ochako wasn't completely sure that was the whole truth, as she was beginning to suspect that this whole thing had something to do with her increasingly pressing feelings for him. But there was no way she was going to divulge that. "Nothing really."
And that was mostly the truth. She didn't do anything. Just resigned herself to a grim fate in the hopes of saving his life.
"So we just have to put up with this shit until it passes?"
"I guess so?"
They stopped walking as the servant unlocked a door that looked like all the others they passed. Once they opened it, the duo peered in to see a room with green wallpaper that had darker flowers and leaves dotting the vertical stripes running down. It was furnished with a wardrobe, mirror, writing desk, and a rounded ottoman at the foot of the bed.
A bed that was at least 8 mattresses high.
Between each layer was a thick quilt, which didn't make sense since they offered no warmth or insulation in their sandwiched position. The combination resulted in a monstrosity that stopped barely a foot away from the ceiling.
"Princess, it's time for your end-of-day routine." The servant took hold of Ochako's arm and guided her out of the room in the midst of their confusion at the sight. Once she realized what was happening, that she was being separated from Bakugo, her protests fell on deaf ears.
She continued to be ignored as she was persistently urged to get undressed for a bath. While she succeeded in keeping her silky underslip on, Ochako was on the verge of conceding that as well when a string of swear words made everyone pause.
Using that as an opportunity for escape, she tore herself away from the multiple hands grabbing at her to run back towards Bakugo's room. Which wasn't hard since he was the one doing the yelling.
"Why the fuck do you have so many shitty mattresses?" She rounded the corner to see Bakugo dragging one of them out to try and throw it at one of the servants.
"Bakugo! What are you doing?"
"They're defective! Every fucking one of 'em!"
Ochako didn't know what he was talking about, but she knew that if she didn't stop him from wrecking any more of this place than he already had, they would have no chance of proving anything to the Queen.
She pulled him into the room and jammed the door shut with another one of the mattresses that he hurled off the bed frame.
"I don't know what your problem is, but I am trying to keep you from being banned from this country!"
"My problem is the shitty mattresses, I told you!" He growled and kicked the one closest to him on the floor. Other than the fact that they were now on the floor, she couldn't see anything wrong with them.
"They look just fine to me." Was the stress of the strange situations getting to him?
"Get on the bed and tell me that it's fine!" Bakugo pointed to the last one remaining in its rightful place.
Though skeptical, Ochako sat on the mattress tentatively. Skimming her hand over the surface, she couldn't tell that anything was wrong, so she lowered her body until she was completely relaxed into it. "It feels like a normal bed?"
"In the middle!"
"I am in the middle!"
"The fucking stabby thing!"
"What stabby thing?"
Bakugo let out a frustrated groan and made a pushing motion to get her to roll out of the way. Ochako shuffled to the side and felt the mattress dip as he laid down with a grumble. But only for a moment because he shot up almost immediately.
"Ow, fuck! Right there!" He roared and jabbed a finger at the spot where his back previously touched.
Ochako frowned as she patted the area without the slightest clue of what he was talking about. "Bakugo, there's nothing here. I-"
Cut off mid-sentence by Bakugo's hands on her shoulders, she was pushed down to lay flat on her back. "You don't feel that?"
With him hovering above her on the bed as she remained pinned down, Ochako could only shake her head in response, not trusting her voice to come out as anything other than a squeak. But it came out anyway when he shoved a hand under her to feel around for the protuberance.
Bakugo huffed in frustration and moved her over again to lay down and find whatever it was that was bothering him. Once he located it, scowling hard enough to make a vein pop in his forehead, he dragged her back on top of it. "There's no fucking way you don't feel it."
The words themselves didn't make her heart stop. No, it was in combination with the bulge pressing into her hip.
In his frenzy to prove to her that he wasn't crazy, their bodies ended up squished against each other on the bed. Maybe he hadn't realized their position yet, but Ochako certainly had. It was all she could think about.
"Do you feel it or not?"
"I-I-" Yes, she did. Just not exactly the 'it' he was referring to.
"Move around or something." He instructed her, still oblivious to the implication of his words.
And she didn't mean to do this, she really didn't, but her body moved automatically. Ochako shifted to her side, moulding herself perfectly into Bakugo so he nestled comfortably against her ass.
She could feel him grow and harden upon contact, triggering a burning sensation to blossom in her core. Bakugo finally seemed to understand what was going on because his hand gripped at her waist, frozen between pushing her away and drawing her closer.
Ochako made the decision for him, rolling her hips into him. Though, could it really be called a decision if she had no control over it?
Like she was locked in her body, powerless to stop her actions, Ochako grinded into Bakugo a second time, gasping when he buried his face in her bare shoulder to let out a muffled moan. One that reverberated through her and forced her to return to a sane state of mind.
Oh. My. God.
What was she doing? Did she seriously just grind into him? Twice? It was one thing to try and explain away an accident, but how on earth was she supposed to claim this was done without intent?
Beyond mortified, Ochako scrambled off the bed, pulling down the hem of her flimsy nightgown and hiking the thin strap back up her shoulder at the same time. She stared at Bakugo, who was now sitting up with an equally shocked face, for an impossibly long moment in a shoddy attempt at explaining herself before running out of the room.
In her haste, she almost ran directly into the Queen, who seemed to have already been waiting among the sea of toppled mattresses and bunched quilts. "Is there a problem?"
"Well, umm, you see…" Ochako stuttered, her brain not able to form the words to accurately describe what just happened.
"Your bedding is fucked up!" Bakugo yelled from inside the room, having recuperated much faster than she.
"Have you looked underneath?" The Queen entered with a strangely calm air, lifting the last mattress to reveal a single pea. Insultingly small, it was hard to see how it could've caused so much damage. Especially as the catalyst for such an embarrassing scene. "I asked the servants to arrange for it to be placed there. To test you."
"The fuck kind of test is this?"
"If you're to marry my daughter, you must be of royal blood. Only a true prince would be able to detect such minute imperfections such as these."
So since Bakugo felt it through all those layers, that meant…
"Starting tomorrow, we shall make arrangements for the royal wedding. Congratulations, you got your wish." The Queen ceded the victory to the pair and left the room, unaware, or perhaps indifferent, towards the new wave of turmoil she inflicted on them.
Ochako knew that this world wasn't real, that it was just a made-up story. She couldn't really say the same for the mixed bag of emotions raging inside her at the thought of standing in front of Bakugo in a wedding dress. Hope, dread, desire. Those were uncomfortably authentic.
This was not the first time Ochako was grateful for the swirling light whisking them away to the next world. She was grateful to leave this crazy place, but there was a small pang of disappointment too.
Because there was an odd look that came over Bakugo's eyes at the mention of a wedding, one he couldn't have faked.
And she had no idea what it meant.