Chapter 16
Kirishima is watching him.
He was there in the hallway, and it scared Izuku so much, he thought he'd have a heart attack. Maybe he was watching ever since dinner, hoping to take his chance after Yaoyorozu was dismissed. But Izuku swears that the look on his face was the most terrifying thing he's ever seen in his life: wide, unblinking eyes glassy with sheer loathing. He looks nothing like he did several months ago and maybe his sanity started to wane.
This obviously presents a new problem, because while Izuku fully intends to kill Bakugou, he might have to deal with Kirishima first. At least Bakugou isn't actively trying to wring his neck, which is the smallest blessing he could hope for. But Izuku has never been the best at planning, especially since he doesn't completely think through the consequences. Spur-of-the-moment improvisation is what he's good at... but that won't work. Not here.
If he kills Bakugou, he'll be immediately killed by Kirishima. In fact, he can't allow Yaoyorozu to leave him again because he'll be a sitting duck. Izuku is strong, sure, but he's not stupid: Kirishima is a man with nothing to lose, while Bakugou is a man with everything to lose. At this point, Izuku has no doubt that Kirishima would sacrifice himself to kill him. Also, Kirishima might be Bakugou's right-hand man, but Izuku seriously doubts that Bakugou would ever kill his own mate as punishment for defending himself.
Kirishima is much bigger and much stronger than him (and considering how he looked before, likely emotionally volatile), but he won't draw close as long as Bakugou or Yaoyorozu are nearby. That means Izuku is safe for now, but that doesn't mean Kirishima won't find a way to flush them both out and
away from him. And then there's the fact that Bakugou hadn't smelled Kirishima, so the beta could have done something about his scent...
What the hell is he going to do?
He'll have to think of something, but not right now. Not with his head in a bucket, throwing up until all that rises is liquid bile. Morning sickness is the worst and it just keeps happening, day after day. At least Yaoyorozu is here to kneel beside him and hold his hair back, and honestly, he's been through much more humiliating things. He just hates that he has to depend on the same person who slaughtered Iida because fuck, it disgusts him.
And the worst thing is that it's difficult to be completely angry with her. It's irrational because he knows this is Bakugou's fault, ultimately. Yaoyorozu only does what she's told—nothing more, nothing less—and she kills because it's her job. She never knew Iida and she's so cold, so distant, that she probably can't feel anything about it anyways. He was just another name on a list.
But Izuku won't let that stop him from using her, somehow. He'll do whatever it takes to get out of this place and he has no intention of leaving before killing Kirishima and Bakugou. This ends here, because if he escapes without doing those two things, he'll be hunted no matter where he runs.
"Your highness, would you like a glass of water?" Yaoyorozu asks, and Izuku's eyes flick towards the door. It's closed but he doesn't want to be left alone.
"Not if you have to leave," he mutters, wiping the bile off his chin with the sleeve of his robe. "Get it from the bathroom."
She nods and rises, heading towards the master bath. It's ridiculous how
paranoid he's become but he swears he feels like he's always being watched. A few days ago, he casually asked Bakugou about Kirishima and he assured him that the man was going to take his place as the head of the military until the pups are born. He's staying in the barracks, which are supposedly on the other side of the palace grounds, but he can move in and out of the castle as he pleases.
Yaoyorozu eventually returns and he drinks, cool water soothing the raw ache of his throat. He also rinses his mouth with the remaining bit before spitting it out into the bucket. The nausea is just starting to ease up, so he leans back against the headboard in hopes of letting it subside completely.
"Is there anything else I can do for you, your highness?" She could probably sit next to him if she wanted to, but she stands right at the edge of the bed with both hands clasped behind her back.
At first, there's nothing he can think of to ask. But if he's going to try and get out of here, he's going to need all the information he can get. Also, from what Izuku has seen, Yaoyorozu doesn't tell anyone anything unless they explicitly ask or if it's extremely relevant. Maybe he can get some answers, especially about Bakugou.
"I have some questions," he says, trying to pull the blanket around his shoulders. "Be completely honest."
She dips her head into a nod. "I'll answer any question you wish with the utmost honesty I can provide." Izuku pauses for a moment, thinking back to the dinner with Mitsuki a week ago. Should he ask about Bakugou's father? Or maybe his mother? Or maybe...
"Do you know what happened to him?" It's a simple, vague question but he has a feeling that she knows what he means. Yaoyorozu's expression doesn't shift, but Izuku can sense a momentary change in the air. There
must be a reason why.
"No," she replies slowly, as if she's choosing her words carefully. "But I can tell you what I do know, if you desire."
Izuku nods and wraps the blanket tighter around him. It still smells like Bakugou, but he's too cold to care. He needs to pay attention in case there's any details he needs to mentally archive for later.
"When Prince Bakugou was about one year old, he disappeared without a trace," Yaoyorozu begins. "The king and queen were devastated, and they sent many teams of rangers and soldiers out to find him. At first, it was assumed that he either wandered outside of the castle gates or was kidnapped. But either way, he was nowhere to be found."
"He came back eventually, didn't he?" Izuku asks.
"Yes, but not until he was seventeen."
Seventeen? That means he was gone for almost his entire early life. "Where was he?"
"The queen doesn't know," Yaoyorozu confesses simply. "She believed that he wasn't quite normal when he returned. It was all very odd and he never talked about what happened."
"Were you serving as a bodyguard when he returned?" Izuku asks, and Yaoyorozu nods.
"I was nineteen and I began serving Queen Bakugou one year prior. She frequently disclosed that she was worried about her son's strange traits."
"What traits?"
Her gaze unfocuses a bit, as if she's trying to remember. "He didn't speak our language very well, first of all. His native tongue was something entirely different that none of us could recognize. A scholar later confirmed that it was a completely dead language but there was no way to tell how he learned it. At least the prince could communicate with us a bit, but his accent was very heavy and it took him a long time to become as fluent as he is now." That explains some things, such as the occasional curse words Bakugou would use when he was frustrated. Also, Izuku has never been able to read any of Bakugou's writing since the language never resembled anything he knows.
"His habits were also unsettling to the queen," Yaoyorozu continues. "He would frequently bring her dead prey, such as rodents. When she would attempt to explain that it is inappropriate for a prince to be doing such things, he did not understand."
"So he was acting like... a cat?" Izuku asks slowly, a bit confused.
"Some sort of beast, perhaps. The queen initially theorized that he was raised by animals, but there was still no explanation for the language."
"And what do you think?"
"I think whatever the queen thinks."
He pauses for a moment. "As in Bakugou's mother, right?"
"That is correct," she confirms.
"So whenever you say you think something, it's what his mother thinks?"
"It is how I have been told to think. If the queen tells me to think a certain way, I obey."
Well... maybe that could be useful later. Izuku has a sinking feeling that the queen—or Mitsuki, as he's been told—won't last very long. He's been called the new queen rather than a 'prince' or 'princess' for a reason, so if he's ever officially brought into power by Bakugou, he might be able to command Yaoyorozu to do whatever he wants. But if that's the case, why hasn't Mitsuki told her to kill Bakugou already? Maybe she still has an emotional attachment to her son and she can't bring herself to do it? With her husband gone, he's technically the only family she has left, right?
Still, there's something that bothers him about this. As a prince, his own bodyguards were devoted but never void of personality or thought.
"Do you ever think for yourself?" It's probably a stupid question but he might as well try.
"No, never."
"What about before you were serviced to this family?"
"I did not know of thought until the queen gave me instructions to think," she says coolly. "Thoughts are a waste of time and energy unless they are assigned by the queen." "What about when you fight? You must be thinking."
"I move on instinct alone."
"And what if I told you to think for yourself?" he asks curiously.
"Technically, I can tell you what to do."
"Yes, technically."
"So if I told you to think for yourself, you would have to do so."
Yaoyorozu pauses momentarily, and although no surprise crosses her expression, Izuku can just feel it somehow. She can't exactly say no. In fact, unless it's a yes or no question, he doubts she could say no to a queen at all. But he thinks the greater challenge isn't the fact that she doesn't want to think: it must be that she can't think, or it's been so long since she's thought, it might actually be unfamiliar to her. If she's been taught this even as a child...
"Before I make an attempt to do so, I would need to ask Queen Bakugou first," she finally says.
Izuku sighs, a bit annoyed. "I swear, you act like you're in love with her. Loyalty is fine, but to that extent? It's unhealthy."
This time, she doesn't reply. But it's strange in a way that Izuku can't quite pinpoint, and for a moment, he wonders if what he said actually carries any weight.
In fact, he's not sure why he cares about it at all.
Whenever Izuku is lucky enough to sleep, Iida is there in his dreams.
They're cooking together, eating together, or just restocking supplies before they move onto the next town. The only difference is that the cabin is never surrounded by forest or large town buildings: there's a porch that faces the sea, and with the windows open wide, Izuku hears the sound of rolling waves. The air tastes the freshest it's ever been, crisp with the scent of saltwater. It's just like home, except this is home now, isn't it?
And it's during these dreams when he feels like he's forgetting something. Something dire, something important. But he never remembers until he wakes, and by then, it's already too late. Iida is really gone and Izuku will never see him again.
Every afternoon, Bakugou returns drenched in sweat.
Izuku smells him long before he even sees him: thick, alpha scent that makes him brutally nauseous. Bakugou tends to work out first thing in the morning, waking as soon as the sun rises beyond the mountains. When he comes back, Izuku usually tries to pretend that he's napping so he won't be disturbed. But this time, Bakugou nudges at him until Izuku has no choice but to give a warning growl.
"Leave me alone," he says, trying to pull the blanket back over his shoulder.
"I want to know how you're doing," Bakugou says. Izuku feels a dip in the bed beside him and he figures it's the alpha watching from above. "Morning
sickness can be awful."
"Surprisingly, it's not worse than you."
A hand tucks a few locks behind his ear. "You really thought it would be?"
"Are you taking that as a compliment?" Izuku asks and attempts to bat his hand away. But Bakugou catches his wrist and pins it against the bed, forcing Izuku on his back. It's uncomfortable to look at Bakugou for any amount of time, especially considering how overpowering his scent is, but the alpha seems much more calm than usual. Almost tranquil.
"I'll take what I can get," Bakugou says, leaning down to steal a kiss. Izuku tries to turn away but ultimately fails as he feels lips against his own. At least he manages to seal his mouth shut, since a tongue down his throat would be disgusting right now.
"You smell terrible," Izuku mutters once Bakugou pulls away. Honestly, the damn sweat makes the alpha's scent far too overpowering. "It makes me want to put my face back in the bucket."
"I'll take a bath soon just for you then," Bakugou replies, flashing him a wicked grin. He gets off and Izuku can finally breathe again, sitting up as the alpha skims through his wardrobe.
Still, something feels a little... empty, and it isn't until he glances off to the side when he realizes that Yaoyorozu is no longer here. She must have wandered off once Bakugou arrived, since he likes spending most of his time alone with Izuku. But Izuku doesn't exactly feel safe being left in the bedroom, because even if the master bathroom is linked, he expects that Kirishima would probably be waiting for a moment like this.
"Can I come?"
The words spill from his lips before he can stop them, because somehow, his fear of Kirishima is actually greater than his pride. He despises Bakugou more than anything, but he can't die before he figures out how to get out of here. Permanently.
Still, the request makes Bakugou blink a few times in surprise. "You want to bathe with me?"
The obvious answer is no, but it's not like Izuku would rather stay out here alone. He has no choice but to nod, gritting his teeth as he does.
"Did you come up with another way to kill me?" Bakugou asks casually.
"No," Izuku says, though he figures the alpha will think it's a lie. "But I don't want you to fuck me while we're in there."
"I won't make any promises."
Soon enough, Bakugou is lifting him out of bed bridal style. Izuku's legs drape over the alpha's forearm as he's curled against his chest, carried to the bathroom. He could have probably walked himself but it's too late to say anything now, after all.
The bathroom is positively massive. It's not unfamiliar, since he has bathed here before, but it's just far too extravagant for Izuku's tastes. Marble floors, reflective mirrors, and large steps leading up to the bathtub are just so unnecessary. However, he at least appreciates the window so he can enjoy a full view of the palace gardens. He hasn't tasted fresh air in a few weeks and he almost feels like it'd remind him too much of Iida. In fact, just looking outside for too long reminds him of the life and friend he lost so suddenly.
Bakugou lays him on the top step, allowing Izuku to sit up a bit before turning on the water. It seems cold at first, but soon enough it gradually becomes warmer and warmer, a light steam rising to the ceiling. The way it moves and shifts like smoke... it's hypnotizing. But Izuku quickly snaps back to reality once he feels Bakugou's hands on him, sliding open the front of his robe to undress him.
"I can do it," Izuku mutters as he presses his knees together. The alpha isn't listening, though: his robe is already being tossed aside, leaving him stripped and slightly nervous. Hungry eyes slide over his body a chill rises beneath his skin from the exposure.
"You smell better after I knocked you up," Bakugou purrs, and his words make Izuku sick. "It's like milk and honey—"
"I'm getting in the bath."
He looks all too amused and honestly, it's more than annoying. Izuku just slinks away from Bakugou, turning around to dip his legs into the water for only a moment before sinking inside completely. He can hear Bakugou disrobing behind him, and soon enough, the alpha is joining him with a much less graceful splash. There's quite a few bubbles floating on the surface of the bath and Izuku figures that it's soap that Bakugou already added, which actually makes him feel a little better. At least they won't be able to see each other naked through the water.
But of course, Bakugou wouldn't be Bakugou without completely unnecessary gestures of affection: he slides his arm around Izuku's slim shoulders to get close enough to nuzzle the top of his head. It's irritating but he allows Bakugou to do it anyways, since there's no point in struggling. Besides, the scent of alpha is much more diluted since the soap is so concentrated.
"The last time we bathed together, you stabbed me through the hand." Bakugou points it out like it doesn't mean anything at all. "I feel like we've come a long way."
"Too bad it didn't do much permanent damage," Izuku says dryly, but the alpha raises his eyebrows.
"You don't give yourself enough credit. I actually can't squeeze very hard, since my muscles are pretty weak."
"And you still deserve worse."
Bakugou sighs and leans against him, resting his chin on top of Izuku's head. "I have a theory that you only lash out as much as you do because you don't know how to ask for a good fucking."
"That sounds really inaccurate," he growls, feeling a little disgusted.
"Is it?" Bakugou asks. "You know you'll get dicked if your attitude gets out of hand, so maybe you only act out because you want to get fucked cross-eyed."
"I act out because I can't stand you."
"Omegas get extra horny during pregnancy, you know. It's okay to admit that I'm right." The alpha's hand slides up his thigh underwater, pushing inwards. Dread spikes in Izuku's chest and he tries to pull away, but Bakugou grips his shoulder a bit more tightly as his touch wanders.
"I told you not to fuck me here," he snarls, flinching as his ass is given a gentle squeeze.
But Bakugou ignores him, pinching Izuku's scent gland. His muscles immediately slacken and he gives a dead hiss of frustration as his legs are easily spread apart. The alpha wastes no time easing himself between them, even as Izuku stares up at him with angry, fearful eyes.
"You're so lucky to be mine," Bakugou murmurs. A finger presses up against his ass and Izuku's breath hitches, but he can't move an inch. The grip on his scent gland is so tight, every muscle in his body feels heavy and sedated. "I could have let my men have you, but you bring out something kind in me."
There's a familiar, empty feeling creeping into his chest and he tries to push it away. He recognizes this, he knows this. His mind feels unstable and every time this starts to happen, he ends up forgetting everything. Right now, he has to stay intact. He can't afford to lose his memory at a time like this.
"Bakugou," Izuku says, using all his strength to soften his tone. It's difficult to swallow his pride but he has to, even if his voice feels shaky. "Please, don't do this right now."
"I want you." A possessive energy fills the bond and Izuku resists it, pushing back gently.
"Can we just be here? Together?"
The alpha pauses for a moment, eyes flicking up towards Izuku's. They're the same burning red that he's always hated but right now, he just needs to calm down. Deep breaths as he bottles up the anger, the insult, the offense. Even the emptiness as he tries to feign anything, any sort of warm feeling to appease Bakugou and possibly keep him from triggering something awful.
"Look... you were right." The lie tastes sour on his tongue but he forces himself to speak. To improvise. "I just didn't know how to admit it."
Bakugou stays entirely expressionless and it's a little unsettling. "So your hormones are...?"
"A little bit much," he finishes, faking his sheepishness. "I know you want what you want, but right now, I just want to be with you. Without doing any of that." There's a long, persistent silence that feels all-consuming. Izuku is almost too nervous to check the bond because he doesn't want to screw anything up. All he knows is that he can't fade away right now. He has to stay awake, alert, and conscious until Kirishima is dealt with. Maybe he can think of how to do that later, but last time Bakugou fucked around with him, he really thought he was going to break.
"Later, then." It's a request and Izuku knows exactly what it means: Bakugou wants sex eventually, even if it's not now. A better scenario would be not having it at all, but Izuku doesn't think that Bakugou actually cares about what he wants.
"Right," Izuku says quietly, channeling a limited amount of submission to disguise his anxiety. "But you have to be gentle. For the pups."
God, that word still makes him sick. But he knows how it softens Bakugou and he even feels a mushiness in the bond. Even the worst alphas get puppy fever, he supposes, or maybe Bakugou is thrilled by the possibility of actual consent for once.
"You calmed down so quickly," Bakugou murmurs, and he releases the scent gland much to Izuku's relief. "I always knew you could be trained eventually."
Izuku doesn't reply to that, though it's mostly because he's too tired to. He
knows he's resorting to manipulation but he doesn't have much of a choice. Not if he wants to buy time, and he's not even sure how he's going to kill Kirishima, Bakugou, and deal with these damn pups on top of finding a way to escape the palace grounds.
And after that, where would he go? Iida is dead and he would have to fend for himself, alone in a kingdom that would be thrown into chaos without a ruler. What if another alpha tries to mate with him after this? What if this becomes a perpetual cycle of terror and exhaustion? Once he's out, he'd be far too poor to afford suppressants. Even if he can fight, he'd still be an easy target.
The more he thinks about it, the more panicked and hopeless he feels. Planning has never been his forte, obviously, but he was trying not to think about what would happen after he managed to get out of this place. It makes him feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly fading away and all he wants to focus on is getting out of here, not what comes after.
If he does, he might just go insane.
Even just the thought of staying here forever makes him terrified. The worst case scenario is eventually giving birth and having these pups, these children born to a father who will hurt them and make them suffer as soon as they enter the world. Bakugou would stay mated to him, probably forcing him to be a disgusting omega wife until both of their deaths. Izuku can't accept that. Even if it's written in the fucking stars, the thought of it is a nightmare. But he's almost equally as scared of escaping only to be caught in the arms of an alpha much less kind than Iida. Bakugou is absolutely awful, but at least Izuku has some sort of power over him. It would be far worse to end up with an alpha—or a group of alphas—who could torture or breed him in ways that even Bakugou would never fathom of doing, even just because he's his mate.
Hands in his hair snap him out of his thoughts, and he realizes that Bakugou is lathering the wet locks with soap. His fingers work their way through Izuku's scalp, through the strands, and the omega allows his eyes to flutter closed to the sound of Bakugou's alpha purrs. Being touched makes him a little anxious, but he figures it's definitely better than getting bent over the edge of the bathtub.
"Have you thought of any names for the pups?" Bakugou asks, rubbing his thumbs in circles behind Izuku's ears.
"Not really." Mostly because I want to find a way to get them out of me.
"If we have an alpha girl, I want to call her Mahoro," he murmurs. "I'd actually really like to have a daughter."
That's... actually sort of surprising. "Not a son?"
"I'd love an alpha son, obviously, but it would be really nice to have a little girl to spoil."
"How unconventional," Izuku says dryly, and Bakugou chuckles at that.
"But if we had a son, I already know he'd adore you." He moves Izuku a little bit to the side, dumping soap on his back. "Alpha girls love their fathers, alpha boys love their mothers."
Izuku's eyes soften at his words. Even if his biology became painfully apparent with Bakugou's arrival into his life, he hadn't even thought that he was an omega at all until his mother made suppressants mandatory. But even then, he was always the typical 'the alpha son' who adored his mother.
The reminder makes him wonder if he was ever an alpha at all, or if his mother convinced him he was one just for his own sake.
Or the kingdom's sake. There's no way to tell, but he still feels uncomfortable being seen or acknowledged as something he's not. But maybe that's what he is? Maybe he is truly an omega, and he's reached the point of delusion by thinking and swearing by the fact that he's an alpha. He has no alpha traits. He's short, he's small, he's bonded and full with Bakugou's pups. He's scared of a damn beta who wants to kill him, which is ridiculous because any other alpha would simply put Kirishima in his place. Even Iida must have thought he was insane, though he probably just kept it to himself because Izuku believing he was an alpha was the only thing that kept him from losing hope.
It's impossible to tell if he's actually crazy for thinking he's an alpha, or if his feelings make sense. Nobody else has perceived him as anything but an omega for months now. Everyone around him continues to call him a mother, a queen, a wife, an omega. He doesn't want to think he's delusional, but maybe his mother was the one who thought he was something he wasn't.
As his thoughts spiral and as Bakugou kneads the muscles in his back, it almost feels as if he's being molded and shaped like clay. But right now, he's just too weary to resist.
The dreams never stop and he'll almost always wakes in tears.
It feels like a part of his soul is missing and sometimes, all he wants is to sleep so he'll see Iida again. The worst part is he never remembers that the
alpha is dead until he wakes, and each time he falls asleep, he promises himself that this will be the time he'll tell him he loves him. He'll tell Iida all the words he kept sealed behind his lips because he never had the courage to say them in the end.
But when he's in the dream itself, he sees Iida's kind eyes, his warm smile, and Izuku forgets it all. He forgets everything he wanted to say and it's a vicious cycle that hurts more than anything Bakugou has done or said thus far. Because Kirishima is probably still stalking him, he has to stay by Bakugou's or Yaoyorozu's side. It gives him no time to be alone, no time to cry, no time to let his walls tumble down even if it's the one thing he needs right now.
Day after day he wakes up to an empty bed, does his routine push-ups to keep him sane, orders Yaoyorozu to hold his feet in place as he does each sit-up. Afterwards, she'll prepare a bath for him and she'll shampoo his hair and clean his body, but he doesn't allow her to leave him alone. Not for a second, and while it's terribly invasive, he doesn't have a choice. At least not until he figures out a way to kill Kirishima.
But Yaoyorozu, despite being an alpha female, doesn't allow her eyes to grace his body unless he's clothed. She doesn't touch him without his permission and she seems to take great joy in grooming him when he allows it: brushing his hair, braiding it, doing everything and anything to take care of him. Not an ounce of emotion ever crosses her face, but he thinks that he can just sense when she feels happy.
With an omega body, he's always felt very in-tune with alphas around him. Bakugou, Iida, Yaoyorozu... it's just come easy to him. But Yaoyorozu feels a sort of emotion that's very difficult for Izuku to put a label on. It's something that's not quite platonic, but not quite romantic either. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that she was in love, since that's what it feels like, but it feels too pure and unconditional to be anything healthy.
In fact, Izuku would say that it feels all-consuming. It's enveloped her, every part of her, but it doesn't feel smothering and obsessive. It's a loyal dedication that's rooted in Yaoyorozu's identity. She was quite literally raised to love and protect the queen.
And while Izuku will never forgive her for what she did to Iida, her presence is something he prefers much more than Bakugou's. The conversations aren't half bad either, and her voice is surprisingly soothing. She always speaks softly, thoughtlessly, like she's rather absentminded. He found it creepy at first and it took a while to get used to it, but it's not like it's her fault.
In the meantime, he tries to test Yaoyorozu's loyalty in ways that could possibly help him later. He requests various items but she won't bring him anything that could possibly be used as a weapon. It's obvious that she doesn't want him to kill Bakugou, though he figures it's because Mitsuki doesn't want him dead. So far, her desires seem to come before his since she's the current queen.
It's frustrating and Izuku doesn't know what to do.
He also knows which herbs could induce a miscarriage, since he's spent enough time around Iida to be well versed, but he doesn't have access to Uraraka's stash. Also, with Yaoyorozu around, he can't fish around the palace kitchens for them either since she would probably stop him before he could get anything. There's no way to tell if she cares about the pups, but she doesn't want him to poison himself since an overdose could quite likely lead to death. But knowing that Bakugou's pups are growing inside him makes him so sick, he would risk harm to get them out.
It feels so impossible. There's no escape and he just keeps telling himself that he'll get out of here, since it's the only thing keeping him even somewhat sane. But as each week passes, he begins to wonder if this is where his life
ends. He can either die and join Iida or live and stay with Bakugou forever, accepting his place beneath him.
Izuku is just so tired and angry. He's tired of thinking, tired of regretting things, tired of the pain and grief and agony that comes with this damn body. At this point, he's honestly considering finding a way to just kill Bakugou even if it means he dies in the process, or just giving up entirely. Those feel like the last two options he has left, and right now, the former sounds like a much better idea. Bakugou goes straight to Hell and Izuku still finds his way back to Iida, even in death.
As if Yaoyorozu can sense his hopelessness, she eventually convinces him to spend time outside of the castle. He's rejected her offers in the past because fresh air reminds him too much of Iida, but at this point, he thinks he might need it or else he'll drive himself crazy. Therefore, she accompanies him one morning through the palace gardens.
There's so many flowers that Izuku doesn't even know them all. He at least recognizes gold buttercups, roses, morning glory, tulips, and many others but Yaoyorozu is familiar enough to name the rest. Large trees loom overhead and it casts shade down upon them, and as Izuku treads along the stone path with her, the surface feels so cool beneath his feet. Yaoyorozu had encouraged him to wear sandals but he feels much better without them. Sometimes he'll step off the path just to feel the grass between his toes, and thankfully, Yaoyorozu doesn't protest.
"Would you like to explore the berry patches, your highness?" she asks, keeping pace beside him. Per usual, she doesn't make a sound as she walks. "I could pick fresh fruit for you."
Izuku nods quietly. He isn't in the best mood this morning, especially after spending so much time throwing up again. But he's actually grateful that Yaoyorozu dragged him out of the room, since he hadn't
realized just how suffocating Bakugou's scent was until he tasted fresh air.
However, a cramp suddenly seizes in his abdomen and he yelps, almost stumbling. Yaoyorozu easily catches onto his arm to hold him upright before he falls.
"Your highness?"
"Sorry," he mutters under his breath, bringing his hand to touch his belly. It was a strange spasm that lasted for only a moment, so he figures that it must be fine now. "I just had a weird pain. That's all."
At least, that's what he figures it is. But only moments later he feels something dribbling between his thighs, and when he glances downwards, he spots clear globs of slick dripping onto the stone path. It doesn't look natural, however: it's thinner than usual and anxiety creeps into his chest. Yaoyorozu has obviously noticed it as well, and although her expression doesn't change, Izuku can sense worry.
"Would you like to return to the palace?" she asks, and he shakes his head.
"No, I'm fine," he murmurs, though his voice trembles. His knees feel a little weak but he can still walk. "Just don't tell Bakugou, okay?" "The prince would most likely want to know."
"Uraraka told me that this would happen sometimes," Izuku says, though it's a lie. He has no idea if this is normal at all but he knows that if Bakugou finds out, he'll become unbearably overprotective. "If Bakugou gets worried, he'll just smother me. It's best if he doesn't find out."
Yaoyorozu blinks a few times and dips her head into a nod. "As you wish."
Izuku hopes that this isn't a bad sign, because now that he thinks about it, he's a little worried of what Bakugou's reaction would be if the pups are unhealthy or weak. Uraraka said that his hips are relatively small and his womb is too, so he ideally shouldn't be giving birth to a litter of this size. It's too big for his body so he'll be stretched quite a bit.
This will be a painful experience, and Izuku isn't ready for it at all.