Inko sighed softly as she wiped at her forehead and looked out the window. The young woman couldn't help but smile. The work had been a little easier for her lately, though she couldn't help but wonder what the king has been up too lately. It had seemed that since he had recovered from his cold, that he had avoided her. Did he still remember what had happened while he was sick?

She let out a soft sigh as she made her way toward his study to clean up. Inko figured that maybe it was better this way. That he forgot about everything and the like. This way, it wouldn't hurt anyone in the end.

Shaking her head, the young woman wandered around the halls until she could make her way to the study. Carefully, Inko knocked on the door to the study, causing the door to swing open and Inko stared in wide eyes as she saw a tall man in the study with the king. His hair, red as dancing flames. Well, that was best to describe his flaming beard and moustache.

He wore red robes, no vest but he had a matching deep crimson cape that hid all but his shoulders from view. Inko could only stare at the man with wide eyes looking at him in shock and confusion. "Toshinori, didn't think you'd have another maid in the castle." The man gruffly said.

"Oh, Inko. Sorry, I thought someone would have told you that the study is being used right now." Toshinori said before he pushed himself up and walked over to greet her. His expression was still as blank as ever but it was his eyes. They looked, happy to see her. At least, she knew he was happy but wasn't sure if it was at her or anything like that.

"Do you wish for me to leave my king?" asked Inko with a frown on her face.

"No, please stay." Toshinori said softly, gently grabbing her hand and pulled her along with him until she was sitting at the chair near Toshinori's. Inko felt rather nervous to be sitting in such a chair, to be next to him while he was having important meetings such as this but it made her feel a little more important. "So, Enji, what brings you by today? And, with your maid I see." Toshinori said softly.

"I have heard that you still refuse to take a bride, plus it is your turn to host the winter ball this year."

"I do not see how it is any of your business wither or not I take a bride or not." Toshinori calmly said before he turned his gaze to the woman next to Enji. The woman, shorter than the other man but still taller than Inko herself. She had white hair that reached the middle of her back. Her grey eyes shined with nothing but kindness and compassion for anyone in the room. She wore a simple icy blue dress that showed off her figure. If she was a maid, she wasn't dressed as one that was for sure. "Now, as for the ball, I already know that it is my turn to arrange it this year and I am nearly done. In fact, Inko here has done a grand job of cleaning up the grand hall."

Inko blushed at his words. She didn't think that she would get such praise from the man himself. "That is true, but you still need someone to accompany you to the ball." Enji said with a glare.

"I have someone in mind." Toshinori said with a narrow of his eyes at the man in front of him.

"It better be someone presentable. If I recall the last time, you brought only your guards with you last year. You need to bring a woman, hopefully a princess." Enji said with a snarl.

"Who I bring, again is none of your business. Do not question me, just because I am quirkless doesn't mean that you can give me orders. I am a king, just as you are."

"Do you not remember? I am the only one out of the known kings that has a quirk." Enji snarled out.

"But you also allow your anger to make your decisions." Toshinori pointed out with a calmness to his tone of voice.

"At least I feel something 'Emotionless King'."

Toshinori was about to attack, Inko knew that. His body language told her everything that she had to know. Acting quickly, Inko gently reached out and grabbed a hold of the blonde's hand and watched as the storm in his eyes started to calm down. Instead of a monstrous storm within his blue depths, his eyes calmed until only sparks appeared.

It seemed that her touch alone, was able to calm down the king and for that she was thankful. Toshinori took a deep breath as he said "I am, the way I am for a damn good reason. You know that Enji… now, before I do something I regret please leave." Enji just looked up at the blonde before shaking his head and turned to stare at the white haired woman. "Rei, let us leave at once." Rei, Inko knew was the name of the white haired woman, watched as she nodded her head before looking over at Inko and frowned a little at her.

Inko tilted her head a little at the white haired woman. Rei just smiled at Inko and waved to her before following the flaming king out of the room. Yet, as Enji had started to walk, Inko noticed a symbol on his shoulder. It was in the shape of flames. Strange.

"That is his royal mark." Toshinori calmly said, causing Inko to jump a bit as she looked up at Toshinori. The man still watched as the king left and closed the doors behind him. Though, the blonde slowly turned his gaze onto Inko as he calmly said "I'm sorry you had to see his wrath, but I do thank you for keeping me calm. It was one reason why I asked you to stay."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to use you in such a way but you have such a calming effect on me." Toshinori calmly said before looking away. Was that a blush she saw on his cheeks? "I also wanted to thank you for taking care of me while I was sick." Toshinori let out a soft sigh before pushing himself up from his seat and made his way over to his bookcase, that was lined with many, many books. Inko blinked in confusion as she watched the man pull out a book and opened it only to see that it was not really a book, but a hidden pocket so to speak.

He pulled out something and walked over to her and the blush on his face seemed to darken a little. Inko blinked as she stared at the king as he looked at her shyly. "I don't know if you'll accept it but I do hope that you will. But please, accept this gift as my thanks. For well, being the only person to look out for me based on the goodness in your heart."

Inko blinked as she stared at Toshinori in confusion. "My king you don't have to-"

"I thought I told you that you could call me Toshinori while we are alone." Toshinori calmly said, giving her a sad stare. He remembered that? The man remembered, that he had given her permission to allow her to call him by his name?

"Okay… Toshinori."

"Anyway, please accept this gift." Toshinori said as he held out the gift in question. It was a necklace, a gold chain. Yet, the gem itself made her think of a cherry blossom. Pink, sparkling in the dim light of the study. Inko couldn't help but look up at him in shock and confusion. "I hope you'll accept it."

"But, this is far too much just for helping you Toshinori." Inko said with a frown on her face.

"Please…" Toshinori gave her a pleading stare, how could she turn that down? Looking at the gift once again, Inko couldn't help but feel like it was still far too much of a gift. But knew, that she had to accept it or risk hurting the king's feelings. Reaching out, she was about to grab the necklace before frowning and pulling her hand back. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, but… I'll need help putting it on." Inko said with a soft smile on her face.

Toshinori blinked at her a few times before nodding his head. He made a gesture for Inko to turn around, which she does so without any issues. "Can you move your hair for me please?" He asked shyly as he held the necklace out in front of her. Inko smiled a little before reaching over and pulled her hair up above her head and felt the cold chain as Toshinori clasped it around her neck. "There we go."

Dropping her hair, the young woman held the necklace in her hand as she stared at the gem. It was beautiful, that was for sure. Though she couldn't help but wonder where he got such a thing. "Toshinori, where did you get this? It had to have cost you a fortune."

"I didn't pay anything." He answered her. When Inko looked over at him in shock, the young woman couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes. "It belonged to my mother. My father gave it to her when he first laid eyes on her. Honestly, it's a family heirloom."

"But, don't you want to give this to your future wife?" Inko asked with a frown on her face.

"Honestly, I do not think I'll ever marry. There is no woman who would want a man that cannot display your emotions." Toshinori said before pushing himself up and made his way over to his bookcase. "There is no woman, who can tolerate me. No woman, who can handle my… strange behaviour such as my clinginess among other things."

Inko frowned a little at that. Why would he talk down to himself like that? Shaking her head, the young woman pushed herself up as she made her way over toward Toshinori and gently held onto his hand. He looked down at her with a frown on his face. "You shouldn't think about yourself like that." Just as he was about to speak, the young woman held up her hand to cut him off. "No, do not disagree with me on this. Any woman, would be lucky to find themselves as your queen. Just because your face cannot display emotions, your eyes…" Inko looked up into Toshinori's eyes, her face tinted pink as she stared at him. "Your eyes themselves, are the gateways to your soul Toshinori. I can read them without any problem." She whispered softly.

"Oh?" He whispered softly, leaning closer to her.

"Yes, I myself, feel like your eyes can draw anyone to them. You are a kind man. An honourable man from what I have seen myself thus far." Inko went on, standing on her toes as she saw Toshinori drawing closer to her. "I find myself getting lost in them many times." She whispered softly.

Toshinori's eyes seemed to spark, flashing with desire and need. Inko felt her heart beating quickly in her heart as she stared at the man before her. His eyes, she knew that despite not liking storms herself she found herself captivated by his eyes. It was a feeling that she never wanted to lose, as it was a feeling that she thought that she'd never feel for anyone again.

"Toshinori…" Inko whispered softly.

"Inko…" The king whispered, mere inches from her lips as it looked like he was about to kiss her.

"Toshinori, we have some urgent news!" said Hizashi as the doors slammed open, causing Toshinori and Inko to fly away from the other.

"What is it Hizashi?" asked Toshinori, for a moment Inko thought that she heard a snarl in his voice but didn't comment on it.

"One of our men has returned with some news. It seems that he has started to find a location or some kind of pattern to the problem at hand." It seemed that he didn't want to speak about it in front of her. Honestly, she couldn't blame him for that.

"I'll return to my duties King Toshinori. Good day Hizashi." Inko bowed to both men and walked out of the room.


Toshinori groaned a little as he sat down on his chair. Of all the things that he had to have done, it had to be that he had almost kissed Inko! God, she must think of him as some kind of love struck fool- wait love? Shit. He did love her, fucking hell.

"Toshinori? You okay?" asked Hizashi.

Toshinori groaned as he laid his head on the desk, he couldn't help but whine at the thought of how close he had been to kissing the green haired woman. Of all the things that he could have done after talking to her about never finding himself a wife… he had to have been so close to kissing her only for Hizashi to stop them. He couldn't tell if it was a blessing or a curse of all things.

"Were you and Inko about to do something before I came in?" asked Hizashi.

Toshinori grumbled his muffled reply.

"Sorry what?"

He tried to say it again.

"Toshi you need to speak up and not muffle your words here."

"I almost fucking kissed her damn it!" Toshinori all but screamed, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

"Toshi, you can easily show your emotions with Shouta and I. We don't care if you show your emotions." Hizashi said with a frown on his face. Toshinori knew that, of course he knew that better than anyone in the world, but at the same time it was a habit that he had grown so used too. Having done such a thing for years, years of hiding what he really felt for anyone around him and it still bothered him to show his emotions to anyone.

"I know that Hizashi. You and Shouta are the only ones to see me display emotions in privet, Inko though… she can read my eyes." Toshinori said with a sigh before leaning back in his chair and whined a little.

"Keep whining like that and people will think you have a kid somewhere." Hizashi said with a shake of his head.

"Shut up. Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?" asked Toshinori.

"Right, one of our men returned. Having followed some rumors about disappearances of slaves or even of some noblemen, all of them had disappeared in the forest. Some of them wandering off on their own and nothing being seen again other than scraps of their clothing." Hizashi said with a frown as he crossed his arms across his chest as he let out a soft sigh.

"Did they have quirks?" asked Toshinori.

"Yes, powerful ones at that." Hizashi answered with a frown on his face.

"So someone is stealing quirks, powerful ones mostly. What about ones that can create powerful ones?" asked the king.

"Even those, as there are many quirks that can create powerful ones themselves." Hizashi said with a soft sigh.

So, it was possible that he was back. The man that killed his master. Though for what it was, Toshinori wasn't sure what it could be. He knew that he had to make sure that no one was going to be in danger. But, how could he stop such a thing from happening, he didn't know. Yet he also knew that he couldn't cause any kind of panic or else he could be doing such a thing without any sign of a threat. Turning over to Hizashi, he calmly said "Make sure that no one leaves the castle grounds. We don't know what could happen, for all we know he could be out there waiting for any one of the servants to leave the castle grounds to be taken away."

Hizashi nodded his head as he bowed to his king before looking at the man in question. "What about the ball though? The other royals will be wanting to know if you have chosen a bride yet."

"Like what I told Enji, my choice or no choice of a bride is none of his concern, nor the others. I will not lie, I do have feelings for someone-"

"Inko for sure."

"Yes, Inko but… it can't be. I'm a king, I'm of royal blood and she isn't. I am to marry a princess. No one else." Toshinori said with a soft sigh before resting his elbows on his desk and buried his face against his palms. It almost seemed as if everything wanted to go against him in some way or another. That was for sure, though he just couldn't get over the fact that he seemed to have developed feelings for the woman but were they true or was it just his fascination?

"Toshi, want some advice?"

"Please."

"Okay, yes. You are a king, yes you are to stick to the rules of the royals and marry another royal. You are to never marry someone who isn't of royal blood."

"Great advice Hizashi." Growled Toshinori.

"But, there are other rules that you also must follow."

"Which are?"

"The rules of your heart."

"Huh?"

Hizashi gave his friend a small smile as he calmly said "You are to follow the rules of your heart. Your heart, for once has chosen someone to love and you aren't listening to that rule of all things. You are to love Inko, if other royals say otherwise. Just tell them that you are still listening to the rules, you are listening to the rules of your heart." He said with a chuckle before adding "And the rules of the royals, are meant to be broken for the rules of the heart."

Toshinori looked at his friend with wide eyes as he processed his words. Rules of the heart, and rules of the royals. One set of rules that he can listen to and the other he could ignore. But, what set of rules would he listen to? No, he knew the answer to that already. He wanted to listen to his heart more than anything. He was not going to allow the other royals to pressure him to marry someone that he doesn't love, and whom doesn't love him back.

His parents loved each other so why couldn't he marry for love.

"Thank you Hizashi."

"Now you also just have to tell her that you are All Might."

Well fuck.