A/N I feel as thought this chapter turned out much better and it was much more enjoyable for me. I got quite a few reviews last chapter, mostly saying the same thing so I'll address them all at once. You guys are absolutely right, and I knew that was what I needed to do but hearing others feel the same gave me confirmation that I was right. Ik you guys want lots of Shouto and Zuko and I will provide that. I love chapters with Katsuki and Izuku too. I find their dynamic interesting, and Katsuki's working through some stuff at this point (hence his extreme anger) sometimes I even need them because I cannot focus on Shouto and Zuko. Shouto and Zuko are not the kind of couple dynamic I usually right and so I often feel like I'm going about it wrong. I am not exactly a romance writer, and fluff scenes are often very boring for me. I literally cannot handle pure fluff. I need substance, something wrong with the relationship. I find that when everything is great and everything seems resolved and the rest is fluff I literally skip the rest of the chapters because I get bored. Don't be afraid to tell me if you think the relationship needs some more drama to add spice. XD
"Can you not stare at me?" Zuko didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of his voice this time.
"What should I stare at then?"
"There's plenty of plants for you to stare out, or the walls, or the door or something."
"But you're the most interesting thing to stare at."
Coming from anyone else Zuko would've almost interpreted that as something more than it was. He could never be sure when it came to Shouto though. "Well… you're the least interesting thing to stare at so," Zuko paused, not really sure where he'd been going with that sentence.
"So?"
"So… go get kidnaped or something. No one wants you here!"
"I thought we were past your tsundere stage."
"My what?" Zuko snapped.
"Tsunderes usually appear in Shoujo mangas."
"What the fuck is a Shoujo manga!"
"They're usually stories targeted for women."
"Then why do YOU know about them."
"I read them." Shouto said, walking over to Zuko, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Or, shoulder to forearm anyway. Zuko could feel that familiar feeling coming back. The room got hot, and for some reason his heart sped up drastically. "Do you like real or fake plants better?"
"What even is a fake plant? And don't think I'm going to let you out of explaining what you just called me?"
"What did I call you? Tsundere?"
Zuko nodded, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer. "It's basically someone who pretends they don't care about someone else even though they actually do." Shouto explained and chose this time to observe the plants. He missed Zuko's look of outrage because of that, which had probably been what he was trying to do.
"Excuse me?"
"You're excused."
"I am not like that! I actually don't like you for your information! You just decided to follow me around like a… like a follower!"
"Very original." Shouto gave him that same sly look that Zuko didn't like. The look that meant Shouto was teasing him but Zuko couldn't take a joke.
"You are despicable! How dare you insinuate that I lack originality! I just need time to think of stuff to say and for some reason, despite your own lack of knowledge on how to be social you are always able to say something in response… quickly!"
"Are you admitting to your own awkwardness?"
"No! I'm just saying that some people aren't always able to think up things on the spot like you!"
"Yet you brought social skills into it."
"I don't like you. And this conversation is over."
Shouto raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Because I said so." Zuko walked away from Shouto, almost too quickly, but when he was far away, the room didn't feel hot anymore, and his heart rate slowed. He wasn't sure if he liked these new strange sensations he was experiencing around Shouto. They didn't feel bad exactly, just not normal. Maybe something was wrong with him.
They didn't talk again until Iroh came out of that secret club room, or whatever it was. "Guess what?" Iroh asked.
"What?" Shouto asked before Zuko could form the words.
"We're going to Ba Sing Se. I have tickets." He held them out for the two boys to see.
"Why?" Zuko asked.
"Because I got tickets!"
"That sounds like a good reason." Shouto agreed.
Zuko didn't know why that was a good reason, but with Shouto added to the group it always seemed to be two against one, so he decided to go along with it simply because it wasn't worth arguing at this point.
"Fine," he grumbled.
That was how they'd ended up in this dump. People everywhere, port heavy with the stench of fish. It was disgusting. Zuko would rather be anywhere but in this tightly packed place, pressed against Shouto who easily made his way through the crowd because of his height. Smug idiot. Zuko had honestly never felt so threatened by how tall someone was because he was average height for Fire Nation people his age. He wasn't short, Shouto was just a giant.
They gave the sour lady taking tickets theirs and then sat and waited for the boat to arrive. A man offering tea asked if they wanted some and of course Iroh said yes, only to spit it out when he realized it was cold.
"This tea is horrible. Who serves cold tea!"
"Disrespectful people." Shouto offered.
"To take something wonderful, beautiful, and delicious and turn it into something distasteful should be a punishable offence!"
"Punishable by death." Shouto said blankly.
"For goodness sake's it's just hot leaf juice! Get a grip!"
"How could a member of my own family say such a horrible thing!"
"You will die within the next three days."
Zuko rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "You two are ridiculous. Tea should be the least of your worries right now, and I will not die within the next three days just because I gave you an accurate observation!"
"It wasn't accurate though." Shouto argued.
"You're an uneducated peasant, how could you possibly know more about anything."
"People only call you uneducated when they have no idea how to back what they just said."
"Okay, Mr. Intelligent, I'll back my argument. Tea is hot, you put leaves in it, and it's sweet like juice okay!"
"Ah, but you need patience and kindness to make tea as well. It has to be just right, prince Zuko." Iroh said.
"That must be why you don't make good tea." Shouto stated bluntly.
"You've never had my tea AND I have both those things, so shut up!"
"Kindness? Maybe. Patience? No."
Zuko fell silent for a moment. Shouto thought he was kind? That had never been said to him before. Most people didn't think he was capable of any sort of compassion simply because he was from the Fire Nation. Well, he'd said 'maybe' but that was something. "It's just tea. It's not that important." Zuko grumbled and crossed his arms, turning his head to see his uncle firebending his tea.
"Uncle! Stop that!" Zuko shouted and then hissed, "We are in public, you can't just firebend whenever you feel like it. What if someone had been watching!"
"No one was watching." Iroh said simply.
Another voice interrupted Zuko before he could say anything else, "Hey, your cup wasn't steaming like that a second ago!" one boy said coming up to them. He had a piece of wheat in his mouth, scruffy brown hair and tanned skin.
"Jet!" someone else cried, probably addressing the boy who'd just shouted.
"Why were you watching us?" Shouto asked.
"That isn't the point." The boy said, crossing his arms. "How did you heat your tea just now!"
Iroh stared, for once at a loss for what to say. Each of them were silent until Iroh finally chuckled, "I thought tea was supposed to be hot."
"Not iced tea." Shouto said. Zuko glared at him. "Never mind."
"Well I… it wasn't steaming before!"
"You must have bad eyesight, because it was." Zuko snarled. "What are you trying to suggest right now. That my uncle is somehow a firebender? You do realize how absurd that sounds I hope."
"You seem to like using big words. Are you an aristocrat or something?"
"We are simple Earth folk just as you are. Take your baseless accusations elsewhere!"
"I'll ice him. You run." Shouto whispered. In response Zuko pushed him off the bench they were sitting on. Shouto caught himself, however and turned to Jet. "He isn't a firebender. But he's a piece of work."
"Say that to my face you little shit!"
Shouto bent down to his level which Zuko found highly annoying and condescending and said, "You're a piece of work." His face so close their noses were almost touching.
It might've been an intimidation tactic, or Shouto might just not know what personal space meant, but Zuko found it to be an almost intimate gesture. He should've moved away, Shouto probably expected him too so he would fall off the bench as well.
He didn't let Shouto goad him into anything this time, however, and didn't move an inch. He just stared into Shouto's eyes, turning what might've been a comedic situation at his expense, into something else. Something Zuko could only describe as intimate because when else could it be?
Being this close, he noticed little details like the shading in Shouto's eyes, and the little strands of hair that stuck up, and the small drops of sweat on his forehead. One tiny movement and he could… Zuko's gaze dropped slightly to Shouto's mouth.
"Stop that." He turned Shouto's face away, half so he didn't have to see it, and half so that Shouto couldn't see is expression. He knew his face was redder than it should be, and he could've almost screamed at the thoughts he'd just had. Shouto was such a distraction. He couldn't believe how much the other boy had occupied his thoughts lately. Thoughts that should be about capturing the Avatar. Thoughts that he'd pushed back for too long already.
"Stop what?"
"Getting so close to me. You smell." Zuko offered lamely.
Then someone cleared their throat and Zuko turned to Iroh who was staring at them. It was only then Zuko remembered they had an audience. They hadn't been alone this time.
Again, he wanted to scream but was saved from explanation by the arrival of the boat. He almost sighed in relief but held that back as well until both Iroh and Shouto were walking ahead out of earshot.
Jet was still eyeing them suspiciously, but slipped off somewhere in the crowd.
He was grateful for that. Zuko didn't want Jet staring at them the entire time, though he had no doubt the boy would find some way to keep hidden and watch them. He seemed like that suspicious type. It was annoying, but he was sure they could handle it.
Once they boarded the boat and settled down, Shouto took the time to think about what would happen next. He could see Zuko was still set on the Avatar thing, not that he'd expected the other to let it go so easily.
Shouto tried hard to understand Zuko's motivations for capturing the Avatar, but was also sometimes astounded to see Zuko ignoring blatant evidence of his father's abuse. The most prominent being the scar on his face. At a young age, Shouto hadn't realized what his father was doing was wrong either. He thought everyone's father was like that. But when he started piecing the puzzle pieces together, he was quick to grow resentful. Zuko didn't seem to think the same way he did though. Shouto sometimes worried that would make the other do something he would regret but couldn't take back.
"He's staring at us." Zuko mumbled to Shouto, yanking him out of his thoughts.
Todoroki didn't know who he was talking about until his eyes settled on Jet. "He's a very interesting character, isn't he?" Shouto said.
Zuko rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh yes, interestingly stalkerish and creepy."
Zuko wasn't wrong.
"So what exactly do we plan to do once we actually get to Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked.
Shouto shrugged and turned to Iroh who shrugged and turned to Zuko who glared at them both. "We did this without a plan! Uncle this is completely unacceptable. Who's the adult in this situation and why am I taking care of you both!"
"We're taking care of you emotionally." Shouto put a hand on his shoulder. For some reason the other boy tensed for a moment with this look on his face before he relaxed and shrugged the hand off.
"It's true. You need lots of support and love, prince Zuko."
"Don't call me that here!" Zuko hissed and turned away.
"We should come up with different names." Shouto suggested. "So no one recognizes us."
"Great idea! I'll be Mushee." Iroh said.
"I'll be Lano." Shouto suggested and they both turned to Zuko who glared and sighed.
"I'll be Lee." He grumbled, probably not happy about having to change his name. "Now then, back to the me taking care of you th—"
"—What are you guys talking about?" Someone popped up behind Zuko, startling him.
"What do you want!" Zuko snapped. "Stop following us I would rather not fight you."
"Maybe you shouldn't jump to violence so quickly, nephew."
"I'll do what I want! Now leave!"
Jet didn't and instead slid into a space between Shouto and Zuko, forcing them to scoot apart. "You two seem capable. How would you like to help me with something?"
"What is it?" Shouto asked before Zuko could protest.
"Well, you see, I heard a rumor that the captain on this ship and his friends, eat like pigs every night while we basically starve."
"So what do you want to do about it?" Shouto asked.
"Steal the captains food, obviously." Zuko bit out. Shouto raised his eyebrows. They wanted him to do what now? They wanted him to steal stuff?
"Exactly. We can feed everyone on this ship, including ourselves. And we might be the only people who are willing to do it."
"If we get caught I'm throwing you under the bus." Zuko said bluntly and Jet tilted his head in acknowledgement.
"Fair. It was my idea, after all."
Something told Shouto that this was not the kind of guy who would just accept punishment after getting caught, especially since it seemed this boy didn't like them.
"I don't know anything about stealth." Shouto admitted.
"Really, because you have a way of creeping up on people."
Shouto shrugged. "You can be the lookout, along with Longshot."
"Okay." Shouto didn't comment on the odd name. Maybe he should've picked something like that instead of 'Lano'.
So they prepared. Shouto asked Zuko why they were doing this. Sometimes he had no idea what was going on in Zuko's head so he liked to ask to make sure they were on the same page. "What do you mean 'why'? We're doing it to feed us and everyone on his ship a good meal."
"And you really trust Jet to stick with his word?"
"I don't see why he wouldn't. If you're worried he'll try to kill me, don't. I can take care of myself remember. You're the one that needs to be babysat."
"I don't need to be babysat that much." Shouto argued.
"You're like a child. Of course you don't think you need to be babysat, but you do, otherwise you'd probably die."
"How do you know that for sure?"
"It's a gut feeling. Now, are you doing this or not? It isn't like you have the hard job anyway."
Zuko turned to him and crossed his arms.
"I'll do it, calm down."
"I'm perfectly calm!"
Shouto doubted that because Zuko was glaring at him as if he'd offended him personally. "Come on, we have to get going, Jet is probably already waiting for us."
"Alright." Shouto conceded, "Let's go then." They then went off in search of Jet, who was hiding shadily in the dark corners of the boat. Shouto didn't like the vibes he gave off, and he obviously despised all people from the Fire Nation if his reaction to merely seeing Iroh's hot tea was anything to go by. Shouto had gotten to know both Iroh and Zuko, he didn't think either of them were bad people.
He was even considering whether Azula was evil or not. He knew she was a bad person, but he felt he could understand her the most. Better than even Zuko or Iroh. He was the youngest of his family, and his father's favorite child, in a sense. He had been pushed towards perfection, to being the very best, because being the best would be what it took to beat All Might. If his father had been a villain, he didn't even know what he might've become.
But Jet hated them all. All from the Fire Nation, and while Shouto could understand his resentment, he didn't think it was a good thing, and he knew he wasn't right. He had found proof of that himself.
Jet leaned against the edge, his eyes sharp, and critical. The exact opposite of his mock relaxed posture and lazy smile. "You guys ready to go?"
They both nodded and Jet motioned them forward. They snuck onto the top deck where few guards were roaming about. He and Longshot stood by the door while the others raided the kitchen for food. He'd quickly discerned that Longshot didn't talk, and Shouto was fine with that. Sometimes he would rather not talk either.
They kept a lookout, although by the time Jet and Zuko were done, they hadn't even seen anyone come by, which told him how concerned they were with something happening on this boat. Plus, Jet and Zuko were quicker than Shouto would've thought for how short they were.
"Alright, let's get out of here before someone does see us." Jet said with a tiny smirk Shouto didn't like. All of Jet's expressions set him on edge.
Jet reminded him of Bakugou in a sense, although instead of blowing up all the time he only blew up on occasion. A ticking time bomb that was going to go off, but no one knew when or how bad. Shouto knew how to handle Bakugou, Jet was a wildcard he didn't know the first thing about.
They quickly descended down to the first level, leaving no trace of their existence, where they handed out food to the other refugees and had a mini feast no one would ever know about. "Thanks for your help. Couldn't have done it without you." Jet said.
Shouto was pretty sure he could've, it just would've taken longer. "Oh, and sorry for accusing you of being firebenders, you just can never be too careful."
"What do you mean?" Shouto asked.
"You just never know who's a firebender these days. Or who's a Fire Nation sympathizer." Jet's face scrunched into a peculiar expression Shouto had no name for. Distaste would be his best guess, however.
Shouto wanted to argue, saying that the Fire Nation probably wasn't all bad, but he recognized that argument would get him nowhere, and would just result in making the trip more unpleasant than it needed to be.
Zuko and Iroh didn't say anything either, most likely thinking the same thing he was. "So, what are your names? You already know mine's Jet. This is Longshot, which I'm fairly sure you already knew, and Smellerbee."
"I'm Mushee." Iroh said cheerfully.
"Lee…" Zuko muttered without an ounce of the enthusiasm that Iroh had in his voice.
"I'm Lano." Shouto tried to go for an in-between tone. Not completely angry like Zuko, and not cheerful like Iroh. Something level.
"Interesting names." Jet said, twirling his piece of wheat in his fingers. "Why are you headed to Ba Sing Se?"
"For a new start." Iroh said. "What about you."
"Same reason, mostly. It'll be better there, hopefully. Besides, it's supposed to be safer. With the impenetrable wall and such."
Shouto almost asked what wall he was talking about, but then figured he was supposed to know and he didn't feel like having to explain his fake backstory to Jet.
Time flew by, minutes turning into hours of senseless conversation until it was time to sleep. Everyone was curled up on the floor, asleep, or close to it. Shouto, however, was finding it difficult to turn off his brain for some reason. It was usually easy to shut off, sometimes it happened involuntarily.
Not tonight though. His eyes were determined to keep themselves open and his mind was intent on not shutting off.
No one else seemed to have that problem, as Zuko was sound asleep beside him, his forehead rested against Shouto's arm. For some reason, it felt like that might be the reason Shouto was having a hard time falling asleep. He could hear Zuko's every breath and almost jumped whenever he shifted in his sleep.
Something was churning his stomach as well, though he didn't think it was the food. He didn't feel sick, his stomach just felt weird. He couldn't tack a name to these sensations he was feeling, but he did remember he'd felt them when he was around someone else not too long ago.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are love!